All Those Years of Desolation
by runningthroughtheroses
Summary: "Just several days ago, the girl beside her had been actively working against them, and now she was huddled with them like she was one of them?" The girls might be forced to deal with Mona as an ally once she's ousted from the A team, but that doesn't mean they're quite ready to consider her a friend. (AU in which the idea of Mona becoming the fifth Liar isn't dropped after 4x01.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A fire, a dead body, and an A message, and suddenly it seemed like their four-person group was expanding to five.

Spencer adjusted the netted neckline of the black dress she'd found buried in the back of her closet. She shoved her phone angrily back into her clutch and looked at the girls around her. Her three best friends in the world…and Mona.

She bristled a little. Just several days ago, the girl beside her had been actively working against them, and now she was huddled with them like she was suddenly _one of them_?

Spencer exchanged an unnerved glance with Emily. There was no way that was going to happen, not if she could help it. But there were more pressing issues to deal with now. Like the murder that A was trying to pin on them.

Spencer squinted down the sidewalk, just able to make out Holbrook's retreating figure. Something about that guy struck her as slimy, not quite genuine. Better than Wilden, but only by a very small margin.

"I can't believe this," Aria muttered, watching the video that A had just sent them once again. "I just…" she trailed off, shaking her head faintly.

"Of _course_ A was there that night," Hanna said, her lip curling in disgust. "We should have seen this coming."

"Well we didn't," Spencer said, more sharply than intended. Her stomach was roiling. She'd already been accused of murder once. There was nothing she wanted less than to go through that again. "But the important thing is that we know now."

"So now what?" Mona cut in, edging closer to the group and folding her arms. "We meet up somewhere and figure out a plan?"

Spencer flinched instinctively, exchanging glances with the others. Emily furrowed her brow. "Um, actually, I'm pretty tired."

"Yeah, I don't – I don't think any of us are really up for much planning right now," Hanna added apologetically – a little _too_ apologetically. "We'll talk at school tomorrow, okay?"

"Oh." Mona pressed her lips together. She obviously knew that something was up. Spencer averted her eyes, unashamed. She didn't care if the girl who up until two days ago was bent on ruining their lives knew that she was being excluded. What, did she actually expect them to embrace her with open arms?

Hanna offered a small, uncomfortable smile. "See you later?"

"Yeah. See you," Mona said quietly. She turned on her heel and walked away, holding her clutch tightly.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Emily frowned, her suspicious expression matching Spencer's feelings perfectly. "Is it just me, or was that a little too…"

She trailed off, but Spencer finished for her, narrowing her eyes. "Easy?"

Emily shifted in her tall heels, swallowing hard. "Yeah."

"You guys, Mona was A, like, two minutes ago. She probably gets that we don't want to be best buds." Hanna lifted one shoulder, still looking awkward. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, adding in a low voice, "I basically told her as much."

"Okay, whatever," Aria broke in, waving her hands in front of her face. "Forget about her. I've got to go get out of this thing." She tugged on the hem of her short, not entirely funeral appropriate dress.

Spencer glanced around at her friends, raising an eyebrow. "The Brew in an hour?"

The girls agreed and parted ways. Emily went to find her mother, and Aria and Hanna headed to their cars. Spencer glanced once more at her phone, grimacing at the memory of the latest threat. Then she squared her shoulders and pulled her car keys out of her purse.

There was no use sitting around and waiting for A to make the next move. Not when the stakes were this high.

…

"Okay." It was said in place of a greeting, as Hanna dropped her purse on the floor and plopped heavily down onto the couch in the back of the Brew. Spencer shifted to make room for her. "What are we gonna do?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "That could be referring to a lot of different things."

"You mean that creepy woman in the veil?" Aria asked, shivering. She held a mug of coffee and whipped cream between both hands but was making no move to take a sip. Spencer, on the other hand, had downed half of her black coffee in practically one gulp. Every nerve in her body felt like it was standing on end, but she liked it that way. Oddly, it made her feel steady, in control. Like she could take on the world.

"Who do you think it was?" Emily chimed in, propping her elbows on her knees and folding her hands under her chin. "Melissa?"

Spencer stiffened at the mention of her sister. "No," she insisted. "Melissa's in Washington, she's not even – "

"I'm not talking about the freaky woman in black," Hanna interrupted, waving her hands in the air. "I'm talking about Mona."

Spencer froze, her coffee cup halfway to her mouth. She exchanged a glance with Emily as Aria furrowed her brow. "What about her?"

Hanna shrugged. The same expression of ambivalence that she'd worn outside the church flitted across her face again. "We can't pretend like she didn't get the same text that we did. A's after her now, too."

Aria looked like she was about to choke on her drink. Spencer leaned forward, unable to believe what she was hearing. She knew that Hanna's relationship with Mona was more complicated than the rest of theirs, but the look on her face was almost sympathetic. "Han," she said urgently, "up until two days ago, Mona was the one after us. She can't be trusted just because A decided to kick her to the curb."

"And who knows if they actually did?" Emily added. "This whole thing could just be a set-up. Maybe she never stopped playing the game at all."

"Wouldn't be the first time she sent herself A messages," Aria muttered, raising her shoulders. It was a good point, Spencer had to admit.

But Hanna just shook her head, clutching her coffee and staring into space so intently that Spencer could practically see the gears turning in her head. "I don't think so."

An uncomfortable silence settled around them. Spencer raised the mug to her lips again, taking another long sip of her drink even though she could feel her hands starting to shake. After a moment, Emily cleared her throat. "Maybe…maybe we _should_ let Mona in." Spencer felt her mouth drop open at the same time that Aria's did. Emily held up a hand before either of them could speak. "Just a little."

An incredulous laugh burbled out of Spencer. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not saying we should be best friends with her," Emily argued. Spencer leaned back, crossing her legs. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the conviction in Emily's voice. "But she had an in with A. She might have information we can use."

Hanna nodded slowly, pursing her lips. "Keep your enemies close. I'm with you, Em."

"So what?" Aria burst out, looking disturbed. "We start sharing sodas at lunch and just pretend that she didn't send Spencer straight to the loony bin?"

Spencer flinched a little at the derogatory term, but let it slide. Despite the harsh phrasing, she appreciated Aria's concern for her, at least. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to see Emily and Hanna's point of view. They'd been running around in circles for months, desperately trying to keep their heads above water. Having someone on their side who knew what it was like to be in A's head might be more of an asset than they thought.

Her friends were watching her, as if it was her opinion that would cement their decision. She shifted, the backs of her legs making sucking sounds against the leather of the couch. "We'll be cordial," she said firmly. "But not friends."

Aria let out a frustrated breath. Emily bit her lip, stirring her drink. Hanna hopped to her feet. "Then it's settled. I declare this meeting officially over."

Spencer felt her lips twitch into a smile. " _Meeting?_ "

Hanna shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly call it just hanging out."

"That's what we need to do," Emily declared, getting up as well. "Sleep over at one of our houses, watch a movie…something normal."

"Yeah," Aria muttered. She slung her purse over her shoulder, her eyes darting back and forth in an obvious state of paranoia that Spencer knew well. "Might as well live it up before A takes us down for Wilden's murder."

Spencer shushed her just as her phone chimed. She pulled it out to find a text from Toby: _Need to talk._

Her stomach lurched. "We'll figure it out," she said, the words coming out in a burst of confidence that didn't at all match how she was truly feeling. "Let's get some sleep, we'll talk at lunch tomorrow."

She headed for the doors, trying to push her friends' worried expressions out of her mind.

…

Toby was waiting on Spencer's back porch when she walked up, his arms folded and a brooding look on his face. She felt her heart begin to pound as she approached him. Ever since their reunion, she'd put on a good front, acting the role of the perfect girlfriend and trying to pretend that the past several weeks had never happened. But as she'd ran a hand over his bare chest, as she'd praised the breakfast he'd made her, her stomach had swirled with discomfort, the memories of seeing him in that black hoodie, of knowing that he'd allowed Red Coat to break her into pieces, seeping into her mind.

Even looking at him now sent a wave of unease running through her so hard that she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. Toby walked toward her. "Spencer," he said urgently, putting a hand on her arm.

Spencer resisted the urge to cringe away. Her heart swelled with a strange combination of love for him and disgust at what he'd done. Part of her wished she could take back all that they'd done in that dusty room at the Lost Woods…but another part wished she could go back to that moment and stay in it forever.

"What's going on?" she asked, shoving down her conflicted feelings as soon as she saw the unsettled look on his face.

Toby's hand dropped back to his side. "There's something you need to know."

"What is it?" Spencer asked wearily, visions of pigs in trunks and taunting messages about murder passing through her head. She wasn't sure how much more bad news she could take.

Toby leaned against the porch railing. Spencer noticed that he was clutching his phone tightly. There was a text conversation displayed on the screen, but it was turned partially away from her. "Earlier today, I got a text. From Red Coat."

"What?" Spencer's eyes darted once again to the phone in his hand. Her mind flashed back to that horrible night in her kitchen, Toby standing in front of her, her open palm connecting with the side of his face.

"She wanted me to do something," Toby replied, his voice low and dark.

Spencer could feel frustration building inside of her. "All of this beating around the bush is starting to make me nervous. What did she want you to do?" It couldn't have been anything good.

Toby hesitated, and then the words began to spill out. "She told me to give her the RV. Mona's RV, the one with all of the…A stuff in it. And I…I did it."

Spencer blinked. There was no possible way she'd heard him correctly. "You…no. You didn't."

"I didn't have any other choice," he insisted, and she felt her heart sink down into her stomach with all-encompassing dread. "Spence, A knows something about what happened to my mom. It wasn't really a suicide. Someone did something to her, and Red Coat's going to tell me what it was."

The ground seemed to tilt beneath Spencer's feet. The RV. They'd searched through it just the other day, sorting through photographs and masks and stacks of detailed notes. They were going to destroy it, make sure that A's source of information was limited, at least. And now it was gone. Back in the hands of their enemy.

Spencer met Toby's eyes, and barely recognized him. "How could you do that?" she breathed, feeling like someone had slammed their fist into the center of her stomach.

Toby shook his head, holding out the phone. "I didn't want to. I would never want to do anything to hurt you. But look at this."

Cautiously, she took the phone from him and peered down at the text. Sure enough, it was from their anonymous stalker. A demand for the RV, and a promise of information when it was delivered.

Spencer's heart jumped into her throat. Toby had never been the same after his mother's death, he'd always told her that. To find out that someone had potentially taken her from him must have been killing him inside. Spencer didn't blame him for wanting to do whatever it took to get answers.

But the betrayal still hit her like a train, anyway…especially after everything that they'd just been through. It was like he hadn't learned a thing, like he didn't care to.

She shoved the phone back into his hands, her head spinning in a million different directions. "Why didn't you talk to me first?" she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

Toby ran a hand through his hair. He looked tormented. "I wanted to. But I was worried that Red Coat would take back the offer if I said anything."

"That was all we had." Spencer's voice was faint. She felt like she was floating above the porch, above the entire house. "We finally could have been one step ahead of A."

"You'll figure something out," Toby said insistently. "You always do."

In that moment, Spencer noticed two things. The first was his use of the word _you,_ not _we._ The second was that, just like after she'd discovered that he'd faked his death, the words "I'm sorry" were nowhere to be found.

"Yeah," she muttered, swallowing hard to try and push down the sudden fury flooding through her. She was too tired to fight, especially when the fight might not even be worth it this time. "I'm sure you're right."

Toby started to speak again, but Spencer turned and pulled open the back door, averting her eyes. He paused. "Spence, wait."

"It's late," she called, and let the door slam shut behind her. She waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared, then threw her phone down on the sofa and let out a groan of utter frustration at the misery that seemed to be seeping into every aspect of her life.

* * *

Hey, remember that time when they built an entire episode of the show around the idea of Mona becoming the fifth Liar and then totally abandoned it? That really sucked. So I got to thinking, how would that storyline have gone? And here's what I've got. This is an AU from season 4 and on. Some of the major plot points from the show will still take place, but the storyline itself is going to be much different than the show. You'll get some amount of shipping, as it pertains to the story, but it's going to take a major backseat.

I'd love to read your thoughts, so please drop me a review and let me know what you think! I've had this story in the works for quite a while now and I'm excited to share it with you all!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone who left reviews on the first chapter! I'm glad that people are excited for this concept. I am too! Please continue to let me know what you think, your reviews make my day!

* * *

Chapter 2

Aria let the door to the Brew swing shut behind her, said goodbye to her friends, climbed into her car, and began driving. All with the intention of going straight home.

It wasn't until she was making a right turn instead of a left at the last light before her house that she realized where she was actually going. And even then, she made no effort to change her own mind. She steered the car to the side of the road in front of the big blue and white Victorian house, breathing hard. Then, before she lost the nerve, she shoved the gear into park and got out.

Screw what Hanna, Emily, and Spencer said. She wanted answers, and she was pretty sure being nice and friendly wasn't going to help her get them.

Her fist was already pounding on the door before the fear of a parent answering struck her. But a moment later it flung open to reveal Mona on the other side. Dressed in leggings and a slightly too big slouchy shirt, she actually looked like a normal teenage girl, and not an evil hacking genius.

If Mona was surprised to see Aria standing on her front porch, she did a good job of hiding it. "Aria," she said slowly, raising an eyebrow. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Aria took a deep breath, as unnerved as she always felt in Mona's presence. She lifted her chin and drew herself up to her full height, which was a full inch taller than the girl in front of her - it was an insignificant thing, but a victory in Aria's mind nonetheless. "I want to go back to that RV. Tonight."

It hadn't even really occurred to her until the very moment the words were leaving her mouth, but as soon as they did, Aria found herself practically unable to stand still. She and the girls had taken a quick look around the camper the other day, but they'd been interrupted by those creepy mini-me kids and their dolls before they could really dig deep.

"It's late, Aria," Mona said, tilting her head condescendingly. "Don't you think this can wait until tomorrow?"

"No," Aria snapped instantly. There was no way she'd be able to get to sleep now that she had this idea in her head. She needed to get out there and satisfy this sudden burning curiosity. "I'm not giving you any more time to sneak out there and purge it all yourself." She folded her arms. "If you won't go with me, I'll find it myself."

Mona gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "Good luck with that."

Aria flinched, but she knew, deep down, that Mona was right. Hanna had tried to explain where they'd dumped the RV the other day, but her description was so vague that Aria knew there was no way she'd be able to get there on her own.

She waited, determined not to break first. After a long moment, Mona sighed. "If it'll convince you that I'm no longer working against you, fine. You can follow me in your car."

"Fine by me," Aria said snappishly, even as relief flooded through her. She stalked to her car and, after a few minutes, pulled out after Mona, feeling adrenaline rushing through her blood.

But ten minutes later, as she steered the car out of town and down a long, desolate road, the sun dropping beneath the trees, Aria felt nerves begin to pinch her stomach. Was she crazy, coming out here alone with Mona? For all she knew, Red Coat would pop out and knock her over the head with a crow bar, and then she and Mona would drive both Aria and the info-filled RV right off a bridge.

Why hadn't she asked the others to come with her? Spencer, at least, surely would have been up for it. Aria groaned as the familiar dilapidated barn came up on her left. She'd always thought that impulsivity was Spencer's thing, but maybe she was the one who needed to work on thinking ahead.

But there was no going back now. Mona's car was already parked beside the tall, rusted fence when Aria shakily got out of her own. Trying to bring back some of the determination she'd felt just fifteen minutes ago, she walked toward the fence. Mona was already fiddling with the lock. "You can wait out here until I'm done," Aria said, hoping her voice sounded authoritative enough.

"I don't think you're really in a position to…" Mona's voice faded as she pulled open the fence. She froze, staring straight ahead. "Oh my god."

The shock in her voice spurred Aria forward. "What?"

"It's…gone," Mona said faintly, still gazing past the fence line.

"What are you talking about?" Aria demanded. Her heart pounding, she took a few steps forward and peered into the large, empty, quite RV-less space.

"This is right where I left it," Mona said frantically, flicking on her phone's flashlight and shining it around the wide area. "Somebody stole it."

Aria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mona didn't really expect her to fall for this ridiculous story, did she? "Somebody," she snorted, stepping away from the fence. Her hand closed around the keys in her pocket. "Sure."

Mona's eyes widened as she seemed to realize what Aria was implying. "It wasn't me! Didn't Hanna tell you? We left it here just the other day."

"Yeah," Aria snapped. "That left you plenty of time to sneak back out here and get rid of it yourself."

"Really, Aria?" Mona threw her arms out at her sides. "If I'd done that, why would I agree to bring you out here in the first place?"

It was a good question, but Aria wasn't convinced. If she knew one thing for sure, it was that Mona was always playing some kind of game. "You tell me," she said angrily. "It's all part of one of your big plans, isn't it?"

Just like back at her house, Mona laughed incredulously. But instead of arguing further, she just rolled her eyes and started to stride back to her car, as if this wasn't worth her time. "If you don't believe me, fine," she called over her shoulder. "I'll find it myself."

Aria furrowed her brow as she watched, uncertain. Part of her wanted to run to her own car and get the hell out of there before A inevitably swooped in and did something else terrible. But at the same time, she wondered if it was such a good idea to leave before Mona did – for all she knew, that RV was parked just around the side of the barn, hidden away for future nefarious use.

But before Aria could make up her mind, the sound of glass shattering cut through the otherwise silent air. Mona stopped, gasping, and Aria leapt back. "What was that?"

She didn't have to wait long for the answer. Several yards away, Mona's car suddenly roared to life, its headlights nearly blinding Aria. Mona whipped around, and she and Aria exchanged a look of pure shock as it peeled out of the gravel parking lot, its tires squealing and dust swirling behind it. Shards of glass lay in its wake – it looked as though the front window had been smashed out.

Aria walked over to stand beside Mona, her anger and distrust dissolving into terror. "What just happened?" she asked, her voice small.

Mona shook her head, her face pale. "I have no idea. They couldn't have hotwired it that fast. They must have had a key."

They met each other's eyes. Aria knew exactly what she was thinking – _Red Coat._ "I don't get it," she stammered, the RV temporarily forgotten. "Why would A steal your car?"

"I don't know, Aria," Mona said, sounding exasperated. "But I obviously don't have a way to get back now, so I'm going to have to ride with you."

Usually, her commanding tone would have filled Aria with irritation. But she was so shaken, all she cared about was getting home, making some tea, and maybe hiding under the covers for a while.

"Then let's hurry," she said, and turned, frantically trying to pull her keys out of her pocket with shaking hands as she walked toward her car.

For a moment, quiet. The first thing she heard was the crunch of gravel. And then Mona, crying out to her. "Look out!"

But Aria had no much more than turned her head before headlights flooded her vision. She couldn't see who was driving the car, or even how close it was, but one thing was certain – it was heading right toward her, and _fast._

The phrase "a deer in headlights" had always seemed like a ridiculous comparison to Aria, but in that moment, no expression could have been more perfect. Her brain screamed at her to dive out of the way. A scream froze in her throat. But her legs felt like they were cemented to the ground. She could only stare, terror rising in her chest, as the car barreled toward her.

She squeezed her eyes closed with seconds to spare, her body tightening as she braced herself. But then, at the last possible moment, she felt a hand wrap around her arm. One of her feet left the ground. She could feel the car's motion just inches away as she was yanked out of its path. It roared away, the engine screaming.

Aria stumbled, the force of the pull too strong. She felt herself falling, but the impact came before she even knew what was happening. Her head hit the ground hard, and stars exploded in her vision.

"Oh my god," a voice gasped. The last thing Aria felt was a hand landing gently on her shoulder before the world went dark.

…

Aria dreamed that she was sleeping on a cloud as it flew through a bright blue sky. And when she woke, what simultaneously felt like seconds and years after she hit the ground, it felt like an actual cloud had been stuffed into her head. Either that or a big load of tissue paper.

She let out a weak groan. Even the small amount of light passing through her eyelids felt too bright. And when something brushed against her arm, she jumped in fright, her eyes flying open.

For a moment, all she could do was grimace and squint into the light of the sterile white hospital room. A machine beside her bed let out a beep. Aria's head pounded. She remembered the missing RV, the sound of glass breaking, and a car's headlights in her face, but after that…nothing. Had the car hit her? Was that why she was here?

"Aria."

Fear coursed through Aria's veins at the sound of the voice. She sucked in a breath and turned her head to the side, which only served to send a wave of pain through her temples. She groaned again, raising a hand to the bandage she'd just realized was pressed against the side of her head, as her eyes focused on Mona's face.

She started to jerk away, even as she noticed that, strangely, Mona wasn't smirking or holding a syringe or anything suspicious. In fact, she was frowning, her brow furrowed in concern. "Good," she said finally. "You're awake."

Usually those words would have sent Aria running, mysterious head injury be damned, but something about the tone of Mona's voice, and the look on her face, made it clear that she was being genuine. Slowly, Aria raised herself up. "What…"

"Your mom should be here any minute," Mona interrupted, glancing at her phone. "And I texted Hanna and the others, they're on their way."

Aria blinked. Her brain felt like it was trying to swim through a sea of molasses. Nothing made sense. "I don't…what happened to me?"

Mona's eyes widened. "You don't remember? That must be one wicked concussion."

But no sooner had she started speaking than the memories came flooding back, as if the sound of Mona's voice had finally triggered the floodgates. The car – driven by A, no doubt – barreling toward her while she stood, frozen. Someone pushing her roughly out of its path. Her head slamming into the ground as the car whizzed past her.

It took Aria a minute to put the pieces together. There had only been one other person with her when she'd nearly been flattened into road kill. Only one other person who could have yanked on her arm and pulled her aside.

Only one other person who had, there was no doubt in Aria's mind, saved her life.

She stared hard at the girl sitting beside her. Her foggy head was swirling with confusion. Had Mona actually…saved her? Even if her brain had been working properly, Aria wasn't sure the thought of that would make sense.

She must have had a strange look on her face as she attempted to process this, because Mona gave her a small smile and averted her eyes. Aria opened her mouth, but couldn't think of what to say. Pushing her out of the way of that car didn't make up for months of stalking and torture. If Mona thought Aria was just going to throw away the past and consider all forgotten because of this, _she_ was the one who needed her head examined.

But still…it wasn't like Aria could just pretend that her former enemy hadn't just completely saved her ass, could she?

She took in a breath, not really sure what words were about to exit her mouth, when the door burst open and her mother rushed in. Mona jumped up as Ella hurried to Aria's side.

"Aria, what happened?" she cried, her face pale with fear. Her eyes flicked briefly to Mona, and a look of obvious surprise crossed her face. Aria didn't blame her – considering everything Mona had done to the girls last year, seeing her at Aria's hospital bedside must have been pretty dissonant. "I got a call that you'd been admitted for a concussion."

Aria struggled to find an explanation. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, but I'm okay, Mom. I just…I fell."

Ella's face scrunched dubiously. "You _fell?_ "

"She did," Mona jumped in suddenly. "She tripped on the curb right outside the Brew. All the other girls had already left, thank god I saw what happened."

Aria offered her a wobbly smile as her mother seemed to think this over. She knew that this was the only gratitude she was capable of expressing right now, so she tried to make her words as genuine as possible as she replied, "Yeah. I'm really glad you did."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Aria's in the hospital. Get here now._

Emily couldn't remember the last time her chest felt so tight. The words of the unexpected text from Mona bounced around in her head as she ran down the hospital corridor, Spencer and Hanna fast on her heels.

"What the hell do you think happened?" Hanna cried as they raced in the direction of the room that the nurse at the front desk had pointed them toward.

"Why was she even alone with Mona to begin with?" Emily added. Suspicions were bouncing around inside of her head so fast that she couldn't even get them straight. Nothing to do with Mona was ever innocent. But she couldn't wrap her head around why Mona would have texted them in the first place if she'd actually done something to Aria.

"I don't know – here," Spencer said hastily, ducking into a room on their left. Emily followed, gasping in relief at the sight of Aria sitting up in the bed, looking unharmed aside from a small bandage near her temple.

"Oh my god, Aria," she exclaimed, rushing over with her friends to perch on the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Spencer cried as she took a seat beside her.

Emily took a deep breath, trying to slow her pounding heart as Aria nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled faintly. "You guys got here fast."

"Um, _yeah._ All we got was some vague text from Mona about you being in the hospital, of course we did," Hanna said, holding up her phone and waving it slightly.

Emily glanced at Spencer and Hanna warily. "I just…I don't understand," she said, trying hard to keep her voice calm and measured. "When we left the Brew you said you were going home."

"How'd you end up with Mona?" Spencer added, her face tight and protective. "Did she do something to you?"

Several expressions passed across Aria's face in quick succession. Emily felt her chest tighten again, but then Aria shook her head slowly. "No…no, she actually…she saved me."

Emily listened with growing shock as Aria recounted the events of the past hour. It didn't surprise her that Aria had decided to go out and search the RV on her own – when Aria got an idea in her head, her passion for it could be pretty intense. But the RV going missing? Red Coat stealing Mona's car and trying to flatten Aria to the cement? Even the thought of Mona yanking Aria out of harm's way was pretty hard to believe after all of their history.

As Aria finished talking and took in a breath, Emily furrowed her brow. "I don't know. Isn't it kind of suspicious that Red Coat just happened to show up and get into Mona's car? What if they were in on it together?"

"A always shows up at just the right time," Hanna argued. "She probably just followed them out there. Wouldn't be the first time."

Aria groaned, raising a hand to her forehead. "Guys, can we not do this right now? I'm kind of too concussed to think about all of this. You can interrogate Mona yourselves if you want, she just went to go find coffee."

Emily's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, she's still here?" She figured Mona had basically dumped Aria at the hospital entrance and sped away.

"I mean, she doesn't have a car," Aria said with a small shrug. But a strange, questioning look crossed her face, as though she was wondering if that was the only reason why their former tormenter was still hanging around.

Hanna shook her head, tracing her finger over the stripes on Aria's bed sheets. "God. I can't believe the RV's actually gone."

"Shh," Aria warned, her eyes flitting in the direction of the hallway. Ella was standing just outside of the room, talking to a man in glasses and a white doctor's coat.

"If Mona really didn't move it, Red Coat must have found it, right?" Emily whispered. A shiver shot up her spine at the thought of A being in possession of the contents of that trailer – so much information on them that they should have gotten rid of when they had the chance. _Of course_ A would get her hands on it the second she could.

Hanna glanced at Spencer. Her frown deepened, and Emily followed her gaze. Spencer was perched on the bottom corner of the bed. She was staring silently down at her hands. Her face was pale, almost green. "Spence, you okay?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, why so quiet?" Aria said, smiling. "Normally you'd be bursting with theories by now."

Spencer bit her lip, raising her eyes to glance at them without lifting her head. She looked like she was desperately trying to contain herself, to keep the words back, but they spilled out of her mouth anyway. "Red Coat didn't steal the RV."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Hanna demanded.

Emily could almost feel the tension that fell over the four of them like a blanket. Spencer took a deep breath, then said shakily, her voice barely above a whisper, "Because Toby did."

The silence that followed was horrible. Aria widened her eyes at Emily, who felt as though she was frozen on the edge of the bed. She must have misheard, that must have been it. The only reason Toby had joined the A team was to protect Spencer – and, to a lesser extent, she liked to believe, all of them. He'd done bad things, but it was for a good reason…at least that was what she told herself. But this?

She met Spencer's eyes. "What?"

She hoped that Spencer would speak up and clarify, that Emily and the others had just misunderstood. But she shook her head miserably. "He told me earlier tonight. Red Coat contacted him. She told him to deliver the RV to her, and…he did." Her voice was heartbreakingly hollow.

Aria sat up slowly. Her eyes were even wider than usual. "Oh my god."

A dull pain began to form in Emily's chest. "Are you sure you understood him correctly?"

Spencer glanced at her sharply. For a moment, her face darkened, like she was about to bite Emily's head off for even suggesting it. But then her shoulders slumped in defeat, as if she didn't have the energy to fight. "I'm positive."

"I thought Toby was on our side," Hanna burst out, hopping up from the bed and crossing her arms. "But he really is working with Red Coat?"

" _No,_ " Spencer exclaimed insistently.

"Then why else would he give her the RV?" Aria asked slowly. She grimaced and rubbed at her temples.

Emily pinched her palm as Spencer leaned forward. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. A conflicted, almost fearful look crossed her face. Emily wasn't even sure she wanted to hear the answer. As much as it tore her up inside to think that Toby could still be working with A, it was even worse to imagine that he was being threatened with something horrific if he didn't comply.

After a few long, torturous seconds, Spencer sighed. "He – " But the sound of the door squeaking cut her off, and Emily turned her head just as Mona slipped in, holding two Styrofoam cups.

Emily's stomach twisted. If what Aria said was true, Mona had potentially saved her life. That was huge. But it didn't erase the fact that every time she looked at Mona, all she could see was the girl in a black hoodie, making endless copies of Emily and Maya kissing in that stupid photo booth to distribute around the entire school.

"I know you asked for coffee, but I thought tea might be better," Mona said, smiling apologetically at Aria as she handed her one of the cups. "They had green tea, your favorite." Finally, she glanced around at Emily and the others. "And I see the gang's all here."

Spencer stared back at her stonily. Hanna scuffed her heel awkwardly against the ugly tan tile floor. A machine across the room let out a beep, as if to try and break the silence. "Why the long faces?" Mona asked, then added lightly, "Look, I'm sorry I don't have a drink for everyone, but I didn't realize you'd all get here so quickly."

The attempt at a joke fell obviously flat. Emily folded her arms and stood. "No one cares about coffee. We care about you and Aria ending up alone by some abandoned barn."

"Aria told us what happened tonight," Spencer added before Mona could protest. "And we all think it's interesting that A was able to get your car working in such little time. What was it, five seconds?"

Mona raised her eyebrows. Her eyes darted to Aria, who was leaning back silently in bed, staring downward. "Isn't it a little late in the game to start questioning A's technological abilities?"

"It is a little weird," Emily heard herself admit, before she even really considered the words. "Almost like A knew you'd be coming."

"Alright, are the rest of you concussed, too?" Mona cried, throwing out her arms in obvious frustration. A bit of coffee sloshed over the edge of her cup. " _Aria_ was the one who insisted we go out to the RV, remember? How could I possibly have set that up?"

"It _was_ my idea," Aria murmured, her voice so faint that Emily wondered for a moment if she'd actually meant to say the words aloud.

Spencer's eyes were narrowed practically into slits. "You drove in separate cars. That would have left you plenty of time to make a call, send a few texts. Make sure A knew exactly where to find one of us alone." Her voice was shaking with barely-controlled anger. She was obviously still reeling from Toby's betrayal.

Mona's face reddened. She stared hard at Spencer. "That's veering a little too far into conspiracy territory, don't you think, Alex Jones?" she snapped sarcastically. Then she turned, almost desperately, to Hanna. "You don't really believe this, do you?"

Hanna just shook her head, biting her lip. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Aria, you were there!" Mona said, changing tactics. "You know I had nothing to do with this. I was just as shocked as you were!"

Emily glanced back at her friend, who looked smaller than ever sitting in the big hospital bed. "Aria?" she asked gently.

Four heads swiveled around to stare at the recently concussed girl. Aria looked from one face to another. Her eyes were slightly bleary, and Emily could practically see her heart racing. "I…" She sighed. "I know you pushed me out of the way. That's it."

Her voice was quiet but firm. Mona looked like Aria had just jumped out of the bed and slapped her across the face. "Wow," she muttered, and set her coffee down hard on the small table beneath the television. "I guess it's true. Nothing I do is ever going to be enough, is it?"

She took one last long look at them in the silence that followed, then shook her head and stormed out of the room. Emily watched her go, feeling surprisingly detached. She was glad, of course, that Aria hadn't been flattened under the wheels of that car. But that did nothing to make up for the months of torture that Mona had inflicted on them. It wasn't their problem that she couldn't figure that out.

…

Emily had just pulled into the driveway the next day after a quick shift at the Brew when she noticed a flash of movement on her front porch. She knew that her mother was working until that evening, so when a human-sized shadow fell across the steps, she felt her heart leap into her throat.

She was just paranoid, she knew that, but it wasn't like she didn't have the right to be.

"Hello?" she called, stepping cautiously out of her car and easing the door shut behind her.

"Em." Paige appeared from the side of the porch, and Emily's shoulders fell with relief.

"Hey," she said, a smile slipping onto her face as she ran up the stairs. She kissed Paige quickly. "Did we have plans?"

"No," Paige replied, and it was just then that Emily noticed the broad smile lighting up her face, and the large white envelope in her hand. "I have something to tell you…or, show you, kind of."

She laughed, and Emily raised her eyebrows. There was a giddiness in Paige's tone that she hadn't heard since before the lighthouse, before Nate, before the debilitating panic attacks. "Let me guess," Emily said, grinning curiously. After spending a sleepless night fretting over Aria's concussion, Mona's true intentions, and Toby's betrayal, she was glad to have a distraction. "It has something to do with what's in that envelope?"

"You tell me," Paige said, and held it up, gripping it tightly between two hands. " _CONGRATULATIONS"_ was written across the front in large, red block letters. " _WELCOME TO STANFORD."_

Emily had to read the words several times, her eyes flitting back and forth across the paper, before they made sense. She gasped as Paige exclaimed, "I got in!"

"Oh my god," Emily whispered. A laugh burbled out of her throat on instinct, and she threw her arms around Paige. "That's amazing!"

"A full ride," Paige breathed, pulling away and grasping Emily's forearms tightly. "Can you believe it? I mean, I know it's what I always talked about, but I thought it was just a pipe dream."

"I didn't," Emily said, her chest swelling with pride. "I knew you could do it." But as soon as the words exited her mouth, she felt herself begin to deflate. Stanford. _California._ It might as well have been on a different planet.

Her smile twitched, and Paige seemed to notice. "You're applying too, right? I got in early acceptance, but there are still months before the official deadline."

"California," Emily repeated aloud, sinking down onto the top porch step. "That's…a long way away."

"Exactly," Paige said emphatically, dropping down beside Emily and resting her elbows on her knees. "Almost as far from Rosewood as you can get. What could be better?"

Emily pinched her palm between the thumb and forefinger of her other hand. "We could go to Stanford together," she mused, more to herself than to Paige. "Dorm together, swim every day…"

Paige nudged her shoulder. "And the best part? No A."

 _A._ Emily flinched. She opened her mouth, ready to tell Paige all about what had gone down last night. But she stopped herself. Paige had been more on-edge than ever since the incident with Maya's stalker. Her acceptance to Stanford had finally seemed to ease her mind, but finding out that A had just tried to mow down Aria with a stolen car certainly wouldn't help soothe her anxieties. And the last thing Emily wanted to do was sour this moment.

She tilted her head, pushing A firmly out of her mind. "I don't even know if I'd get in," she admitted.

"Please," Paige scoffed. She reached over and brushed a strand of Emily's hair behind her ear. "If they accepted me on a full ride, you'll be a shoo-in."

Emily tried to return her excited smile. She held Paige's hand tightly, picturing sunny California, sparkling blue pools, and a new life away from Rosewood and the trouble that seemed to follow her everywhere in this town.

But as hard as she tried, that same dark, foreboding feeling kept creeping back in. Because she knew from experience that leaving Rosewood was never as easy as it seemed.

* * *

Man this chapter was hard to write, but we wouldn't have much of a story if the girls believed Mona right off the bat, would we? And just in case anyone didn't understand the reference earlier in the chapter, Alex Jones is the gross, infamous conspiracy theorist who spends his time supporting ideas like a pizza place running a child sex ring out of the basement that it doesn't actually have.

Thanks to everyone who left such awesome feedback on the last chapter! I appreciate your thoughts so much. Please continue to let me know what you think, reviews give me the inspiration to write! I'm hoping to keep up a good balance between the Liars/Mona storyline, the mystery, and the ships, but let me know if you think I need to do a better job at that!


	4. Chapter 4

It was great to get such awesome feedback on the last chapter - thank you to everyone who reviewed! This one's a tad shorter, but I felt it was an appropriate stopping point. I hope you enjoy, and please keep letting me know what you think!

* * *

Chapter 4

Hanna had been doing a lot of thinking.

Sure, most of that thinking had been done during English class, but this was far more important than listening to a droning discussion on the significance of the name of Hester Prynne's daughter.

She was thinking a little about what movies she should bring when she went to visit Aria, who was out of school for the rest of the week. And a little about grocery shopping for the dinner she and Caleb were planning on making for her mom that weekend.

Mostly, though, she was thinking about Mona.

Something had been bothering her since she left the hospital two nights ago, and it had taken her over forty-eight hours to figure out what it was. It was no secret that Hanna's relationship with Mona was more complicated than her friends'. While they looked at Mona and saw nothing but a threatening stalker in a black hoodie, Hanna saw an endless amount of sleepovers, hours spent gossiping at the mall, and the amazing glow of finally having a friend again after her entire world crumbled at the start of her ninth grade year.

It wasn't so easy for Hanna to turn completely against Mona the way that her friends had. They had been too close for that.

But that also meant that it was even harder for Hanna to get over what her former best friend had done to her. Not just hitting her with a car, but months of making Hanna live with a feeling of constant, terrible dread. Wondering every time she opened her mouth if A was listening, if her own words were going to be twisted and used against her.

It was the irrational jolt of her stomach that Hanna felt when Ezra drew a large red letter _A_ on the board, signifying Hester Prynne's branding symbol, that made her realize what it was that was bothering her so much.

 _Nothing I do is ever going to be enough, is it?_

Hanna had seen the incredulous looks on her friends' faces as soon as Mona had said those words. And she had to admit, she couldn't blame them. As much as she couldn't bring herself to just throw away the friendship they'd had, it bugged her that Mona seemed to expect that they'd be willing to embrace her with open arms after…what? Two days off of the A team?

Regardless of what she'd done to help them in that time, it was going to take a lot longer for Hanna to learn to trust her again – if that really was what Mona wanted.

The least Hanna could do, though, was tell her that. Directly this time, not in some roundabout, "I know you know I'm just pretending everything's fine" kind of way. And she had to do it alone.

"Hey." Mona's eyes crinkled in obvious confusion as soon as Hanna pulled open her front door.

"Hey," Hanna replied, and stepped aside so she could enter.

Mona didn't meet Hanna's eyes, instead gazing around the entryway like she'd never seen it before. "I was surprised to get your text. Is everything okay?" She suddenly turned to face Hanna, raising her eyebrows. "Don't tell me something happened to that chip."

"No. No, of course not," Hanna insisted – at least she didn't think so. Admittedly, she hadn't checked her hiding spot in the makeup case since she'd dumped the computer chip in there the other day. "I just…I need to talk to you about something."

The words sounded awkward coming out of her mouth. If Mona noticed, she didn't comment, following Hanna into the kitchen silently. She slid onto one of the seats at the island. "So what's on your mind, girlie?"

There was a forced cheerfulness to her voice that wasn't lost on Hanna. She leaned against the counter, clasping her hands together. "I keep thinking about something you said the other day. In the hospital." When Mona didn't respond, she cleared her throat and went on, "You know, about…nothing you do ever being enough."

Mona's expression darkened so slightly that Hanna wondered if she'd imagined it. "What about it?"

"It's just…" Hanna resisted the urge to start picking the nail polish off of her brand-new manicure. "It's only been a couple days, Mona. You can't really blame us for not lining up to be your best friend."

She'd tried to phrase it as gently as possible, but her former friend still looked wounded. "I let you search the RV. I gave you that computer chip. I saved Aria's freaking _life._ What else do I have to do to prove to you four that I'm on your side now?"

"It's not really about that," Hanna insisted, even though it was, sort of. "You were A for a really long time. Not just once, but _twice._ We can't just forget about all of that."

Mona shifted in her seat. She was starting to look uncomfortable. "Han, I'm sorry about everything I did. I would take it all back if I could. But I can't change the past."

She sounded genuine, even looked a little near tears, but Hanna closed her eyes and pictured Mona taunting Spencer in the woods, beside what was supposedly Toby's dead body, just a few weeks ago. Her stomach twisted. "You did horrible things," she practically whispered. "To all of us."

"And I'm sorry!" Mona cried again, jumping up. A tear actually did roll down her cheek now. "Am I ever going to be able to prove that?"

Hanna desperately wanted to give her the answer she craved. That she'd talk to her friends, and within a few more days all would be forgiven, water under the bridge. But she couldn't get the words out. They both knew that wasn't true.

"I don't know," she said finally. She couldn't bring herself to meet Mona's eyes. "But I know that if you can, it's going to take time."

Such a long silence followed that Hanna become uncomfortably aware of her nails beginning to dig into the center of her palm. She pried her hand open and lifted her gaze. Mona was staring down at the countertop, her expression indecipherable. Hanna shifted. "Mona?"

"I get it," her old best friend said quietly. "I was stupid to think that things could ever go back to the way they used to be."

It was no sentiment that she hadn't expressed before, but something about the tone of her voice, despite everything, sent a wave of sympathy running through Hanna. Mona's actions as A had been horrible – some even approaching the line of unforgiveable – but it wasn't like she'd done it all for no reason.

This time, Hanna pictured the humiliated girl standing beside their lunch table as Alison dismissed her with yet another degrading comment. Then she pictured that same girl sitting, catatonic, in Radley, years of embarrassment and rage and self-loathing finally having bubbled over.

As awful as Mona's response to Alison's bullying had been, it wasn't like she was the only totally guilty party here. Hanna reached over and touched her arm briefly. "I'm not saying that. You just need to give me – and especially my friends – more than two days. Building trust takes time."

Something in Mona's expression softened. She even gave Hanna a small smile. "That was actually pretty insightful."

Hanna smiled back, and for just the briefest moment, the tension between them dissipated. It almost felt like old times, before broken legs, before bodies in backyards, before A.

And then Hanna's phone chimed with a text from Caleb, and the spell was broken. Mona grabbed her purse and stood. "I should probably go."

"Caleb's not coming over until tonight," Hanna blurted without thinking. "Want to stay and hang out for awhile?"

The words hung between them awkwardly. They both knew it was more of an olive branch than a genuine offer. Despite the one pleasant moment they'd just shared, they were far from that point.

But still. It was something. And Mona seemed to realize that at the same time as Hanna. She smiled again and moved toward the door. "I'll see you at school."

Hanna sunk down heavily onto one of the island stools as she listened to the sound of the front door clicking shut. Her stomach felt queasy with unease, and for a moment she couldn't put her finger on why that was. That conversation had gone much better than anticipated, and though she couldn't speak for her friends, she had a feeling that her relationship with Mona was eventually going to be okay.

But her brain kept cycling around to one thing Mona had said. _Don't tell me something happened to that chip._

It was a ridiculous thing to worry about. That computer chip was buried so deep in Hanna's biggest makeup case that it was practically more secure than Fort Knox. A might have been good, but they couldn't be _that_ good.

Could they?

Hanna started up the stairs. _Just for peace of mind,_ she assured herself. After all, she didn't want her movie night with Caleb to be ruined by her irrational worrying. She crossed her bedroom, her eyes on the makeup case on her vanity. She opened it slowly, sliding aside rows of eye shadow and lip-gloss, until she reached the innermost compartment. Every fiber of her being expected to see that small, black drive sitting there. She was so sure it would be there that she could practically see it.

Practically, but not quite.

The empty compartment, built to fit an entire eye shadow palette that Hanna had removed for this purpose, stared up at her. The chip was gone, and in its place was a plain, folded piece of white paper.

It took Hanna a moment to wrap her head around this. The computer chip, which contained the biggest piece of evidence linking Hanna and her friends to Rosewood's most recent murder, was gone. It was _gone._

"No," Hanna whispered, her heart skyrocketing into her throat. She grabbed the makeup case and shook it, desperate for the chip to magically come sliding out of another secret section. She yanked out other drawers and compartments, her breath quickening as she felt herself begin to panic. This was not happening. How the hell was she going to tell her friends?

Her confusion and shock was so overwhelming that she barely even noticed the paper until she turned the entire case upside down and it fluttered out, coming to rest on the vanity.

It was like Hanna's hand was moving in slow motion as she reached for it. Part of her didn't even want to open it. She already knew what it was going to say. Some mocking, mean-spirited note from A, probably about how stupid Hanna was to think she could get away with hiding an important piece of information in such a trivial place.

She unfolded the note, her fingers shaking slightly. And, just as she'd predicted, she was met with A's large, blocky handwriting. But the message was far more than just a snarky taunt.

 _Eenie, meenie, miny, mo. You're it, Hanna-kins. You're welcome for leaving all of your makeup behind, even though you won't need it where you're headed. Kisses, -A_


	5. Chapter 5

Once again, I am amazed by the feedback I've gotten from you guys! Thank you! I'm glad everyone is enjoying. Boris, I will say that I have this story pretty planned out, but I'm always happy to hear suggestions! Feel free to PM me!

One other thing: I realized right after I published the last chapter that I made a little mistake. That stolen computer chip has the footage of Ashley running over Wilden, not the girls outside his car. Whoops! Let's just pretend that one little line referring to that never happened, okay? Great. This chapter has some more ship drama just to settle things after where we left off in the show's canon, but I promise that's going to minimize later in the story! As always, please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think! The next chapter continues developing Mona's changing dynamic with one Liar in particular.

* * *

Chapter 5

"Seriously you guys, read it again. Don't tell me this doesn't mean something."

Hanna's voice was on the verge of hysterical, and Aria found herself physically leaning back in her seat as the most recent correspondence from A was shoved aggressively in front of her face.

Aria scanned the ominous words once again. "And you said that A left this behind when they stole that computer chip?"

" _Yes,_ " Hanna groaned, dropping the note onto the table in the quad that they were sitting around. She smacked a notebook overtop of it quickly when a teacher strolled by.

"Okay, A getting ahold of that chip is bad," Spencer conceded. "But Han, we already knew that Red Coat's planning on framing us for – " She glanced at the students peacefully eating lunch at the tables around them and lowered her voice. " – for Wilden's murder. This just seems like more confirmation of that."

Hanna looked aghast. "Don't you guys get it?" she demanded, pulling the note out again and staring down at it. "This is personal. This is directed at me, not all of us."

Emily shifted uncomfortably, poking at the pasta on her tray with a fork. "I don't know. We all got the 'you're mine now' text right before we opened that trunk. And the video A sent us outside Wilden's funeral was of all of us."

"Yeah," Aria agreed. She tried to choose her words carefully. "I know you're upset, Han, but I think you might be overreacting just a little."

"Overreacting?" Hanna repeated, a little too loudly. She stood suddenly, as if on impulse. "Now A has that video of Wilden rolling over my mom's car like a deer. This could bring my mom down. And it makes it a hell of a lot easier to link both of us to what happened to him."

Aria exchanged glances with Spencer and Emily. Her head was spinning – she was starting to wish she'd obeyed her doctor's orders and stayed out of school all week. But when she'd gotten Hanna's frantic text the night before, she'd known that she couldn't just spend all day lying in bed like an invalid, so she'd convinced her mom that she felt completely fine.

Her temples throbbed, and she pushed her fingers against them gently. As much as she didn't believe the rest of them were off the hook for Wilden's murder, she understood where Hanna was coming from. This definitely looked worse for her – and her mom – than it did for Aria and the others.

Emily covered Hanna's hand with her own. "Look, we'll figure something out, okay?" she said gently. "We're not going to let anything happen to you _or_ your mom."

"Anyway, that video can't be used as proof of anything," Spencer added. "If anything, it connects Jenna and Shana more to Wilden than it does your mother."

Hanna didn't look comforted. "Yeah, until A edits it or something to make it fit the story they want to tell."

The girls fell silent. Aria stared down at her food, not hungry in the slightest. It wasn't until they heard the sound of heels clacking toward them that they looked up to see Mona approaching the table, lunch tray in hand.

Spencer immediately looked away. "God," she breathed. "Why does she have to be so ubiquitous?"

"I don't know what that means," Hanna replied, then gave Spencer a sharp look. "But play nice."

"Ladies," Mona chirped in greeting, setting her tray down on the table and sliding onto the bench beside Hanna. Aria glanced at Emily and Spencer and realized with a surprised jolt that she didn't feel the same disgust that they were wearing plainly on their faces. A little annoyance, maybe, but ever since Mona had pushed her out of the way of that car, she hadn't been able to muster up her usual amount of disdain.

She wondered what that meant, truly, but quickly forced the question out of her mind as Emily asked harshly, "Don't take this the wrong way, Mona, but why are you sitting with us?"

"How could I possibly take that the wrong way?" Mona asked sarcastically. Then she turned fully to Hanna, her expression softening. "How are you? Have you heard anything more from our favorite masked ninja?"

Spencer let out an incredulous, almost strangled sound. "Hanna, you told her?"

"Yeah, I did," Hanna said. Aria was taken aback by the unexpected sharpness in her tone. "She was the one who gave me the chip in the first place. This involves all of us."

Spencer snorted. Emily looked like she was about to jump in, but Aria beat her to it, surprising even herself as she blurted, "Guys, can we all cool it, please?" Spencer and Emily gave her simultaneous quizzical looks. She didn't blame them. She kind of couldn't believe she'd said it, either. She grimaced and rubbed at her head again. "All this arguing is making my head throb," she added by way of explanation.

Hanna glanced at Aria, twisting her mouth like she wasn't really sure what to make of this, then said, "To answer your question, no. Not since A took that chip."

Mona's expression was surprisingly calm. "Well," she said lightly, uncapping the bottle of juice on her tray and taking a sip, "it could be worse."

"What?" Emily demanded.

Spencer sighed. "Please, enlighten us."

"The point of stealing that chip wasn't so A couldn't get ahold of it," Mona explained, with just a note of condescension in her voice. "It was so the cops couldn't. You guys can't possibly be naïve enough to think that A doesn't have at least three copies of that thing backed up."

Aria chewed thoughtfully on a piece of pasta. "So you don't think this changes anything?"

Emily furrowed her brow, looking unconvinced. "Then why would A break into Hanna's room and steal that chip in the first place?"

"Oh, god," Hanna moaned, setting down her fork. "I didn't even think about that part. A was in my room." She slid her lunch away from her with one finger.

Mona pointed at Hanna as though a point had been proven. "That's why. To do what A does best. Incite fear. Show us, once again, who's in charge."

Aria found herself nodding along. It was a reasonable theory – probably the _most_ reasonable theory for anything A-related that she'd heard in months. "You might be right."

"I hope you're right," Hanna added.

"I think we still need to consider every possibility," Spencer said, but even she looked slightly disgruntled.

Mona gave her a thin smile. "I completely agree."

Emily sighed, and Spencer looked close to throwing her lunch tray at Mona's head, but Aria found herself once again unable to muster up any outrage. Maybe her emotions were just dulled by her concussion, but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything more than a general uncomfortable twinge. She glanced at Hanna, wondering if this was how she'd felt every day since Mona had been released from Radley.

After another moment, though, Mona stood and grabbed her tray. "Well, it's been great to catch up, girls, but I have to jet. Last minute study session for French." She gave a little wave and swept back into the school.

Emily let out a breath. "Finally," she muttered.

"Emily, stop," Hanna chastised. "Say what you want about Mona, but she sure made me feel better than you guys did." Aria and the others looked at her, affronted, and she shrugged. "No offense, but seriously. You have to admit, she made a good point."

Spencer just shook her head in obvious irritation. "Whatever, at least now we can eat in peace."

As the girls ate quietly, settled into a comfortable silence, Aria's phone buzzed. Her eyes flitted over to it with disinterest, but as soon as she saw Ezra's name at the top of the screen, she snatched it from the table. Hanna raised an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Aria stammered, her eyes on the text. "It's…just my dad."

 _I need to talk to you._

Aria should have been furious. She should have been near tears. She'd made it clear as day just last week that she wanted – she _needed_ – to break things off. Ezra hadn't respected that when he'd kissed her at school, and he wasn't respecting it now.

But in reality, all she felt was surprise, and, against her better judgment, a little bit of hope. And when a second text came in, just seconds after the first, she felt her heart begin to flutter.

 _Please._

…

Aria's stomach was in knots when she knocked on the door of Ezra's apartment that evening. Even the motion felt awkward, unnatural, when she was so used to just barging right in like it was her own home. But after everything they'd been through over the past week, she was more uncertain of where they stood than ever.

Half of her expected him not to answer at all, and the other half pictured him flinging open the door and grabbing her in a kiss not unlike the one he'd pulled her into the other day at school.

She was wrong on both counts. Ezra's eyes were red and tired when he finally answered. He was still dressed in his school clothes, but his tie was loose and a few of the buttons on his vest had been undone. "Thanks for coming," he said hoarsely.

Aria stepped back, aghast. The man she'd seen in English class just hours ago might as well have been a completely different person. "Ezra," she gasped. "Did something happen?"

He stepped aside. "I think you should just come in."

He turned and walked into the apartment, sitting down heavily on the couch without looking back. Aria eyed the space next to him, her usual spot, then perched on the chair beside the couch instead, feeling strangely out of her element in this place that was so familiar to her.

"Ezra," she said again when he didn't speak. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

Ezra leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and running a hand over his face. When he spoke, the words were so muffled that Aria nearly missed them altogether. "He's not mine."

"What?"

"Malcolm." He took in a shuddering breath. "I'm not…his father."

Aria could barely make sense of the words. "No, of course you are," she stammered, picturing the little brown-haired, gap-toothed boy playing trains on the coffee table. "Why would you think that?"

"Maggie and I got into it the night of Wilden's funeral. She got a job in Washington, and she wants to take Malcolm with her." The words came out in a rush, as if he was trying to push every bit of the painful story out before he lost the nerve. "When I tried to refuse, that's when she blurted it out. He's not my son."

Disgust began to swirl in Aria's stomach. "She just told you that?" she breathed. "In a _fight?_ "

"I don't think she even meant to say it," Ezra muttered, his head still in his hands. "We were both angry. She said she didn't want me to find out like this, but…"

Aria couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd had a front row seat to Ezra and Malcolm's bonding for _weeks._ She'd never seen Ezra so happy. And Maggie knew the whole time that Malcolm wasn't his? She was happy to sit back and let Ezra babysit, let him get attached, and then…what? Just rip who he thought was his son away from him? A flare of anger swelled in her chest. She hoped Maggie was already in Washington, for her own sake, because a big part of Aria felt like tracking her down and giving her a piece of her mind.

"God, Ezra," she whispered, once she finally found her voice. "I can't believe she would do that do you. 'I'm sorry' doesn't even begin to describe it."

"I don't know how I'm going to get past this." He finally raised his eyes to meet hers. "It hurts. I mean, it physically _hurts._ And it's made me realize that I made a huge mistake." When she just stared at him, confused by the sudden intensity in his eyes, he stood abruptly from the couch and kneeled down in front of her. "Aria, I should never have let you go last week. You are the only person in my life who is one hundred percent honest with me. About everything. I can't lose that. _You._ "

Aria's skin began to prickle. Honest? She'd been about as honest as Pinocchio when it came to Ezra lately. And the more she stared into his heartbroken, earnest expression, the more she felt like she was about to explode. "Ezra…"

"I mean it," he interrupted, grabbing her hand. "Maggie lied to me about something unforgivable. You're the only one who I know would never do that."

"Ezra," she said again, harsher this time. "There's something I have to tell you."

His face morphed into confusion. He sank back onto the couch, seeming to sense that something was wrong. "What?"

Aria's stomach felt like it was trying to claw its way into her throat. All at once, she got the feeling that she was about to make a horrible mistake. Ezra was already crushed. Learning what Aria had done would devastate him even more.

But if she couldn't even bring herself to tell him the truth, who was she to judge Maggie for doing the same thing?

So she took a deep breath, trying to steady her trembling hands. "I haven't exactly been completely honest with you, either." He didn't respond, but his brow knitted together. She forced herself to continue. "Remember the night I took Malcolm to the carnival? I…I wasn't with him the whole time."

Ezra stiffened. "What do you mean? Where was he?"

"He got away from me," Aria answered, and nearly left it at that. Malcolm running off was one thing. Malcolm getting kidnapped by A, who also happened to be Aria's best friend, was quite another. But the words left her mouth weakly, and she could tell by the look on Ezra's face that he was waiting for more. "I mean, he…he was taken. By A."

Reading fiction implied that seeing the color drain from someone's face was practically an everyday occurrence. Aria had personally never seen it happen, or even believed that it was possible. But in that moment, Ezra came pretty close. "W-what?"

Aria could taste the veggie burger she'd had for lunch. She swallowed hard. "A picked him up from karate under my name. I tracked them down to the carnival, and I found him…alone. He was fine, Ezra. He wasn't hurt at all."

"Oh my god," Ezra muttered, looking as sick as Aria felt. "God, why would…why would A do that?"

"I don't know," Aria said automatically. She was willing to tell Ezra the truth about her role in that awful night, but there was absolutely no way she was ratting out Spencer. She would take that secret to her grave. "To freak me out, I guess."

Suddenly, Ezra was on his feet. "And you didn't think you should tell me this?"

Aria leapt up as well. Although this was exactly the reaction she should have expected, her heart still started to pound. "Everything was fine! I didn't want you to worry over nothing."

Ezra's face began to redden. "My son, my – " He paused, grimaced, and restated, "Malcolm was kidnapped by a stalker who has committed _murders,_ and you think everything's _fine?_ God, Aria, I can't believe you're just telling me this now."

"I'm sorry!" Aria cried, tears springing to her eyes. "I thought I was doing the right thing!"

"The right thing," Ezra repeated furiously. Aria started to shrink back, but he suddenly froze, realization lighting up his eyes. "That's why you wanted to break things off."

It wasn't a question, but Aria nodded anyway. "I told you someone was going to end up hurt. That's what I was talking about. Ezra, I was so freaked after A got ahold of Malcolm. I figured the best way to make sure he was safe was to get myself out of your lives."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore." The fury was gone from Ezra's voice as he sank onto the couch again. Aria could make out the lines around his eyes, more pronounced than she'd ever seen them before.

Her heart finally starting to slow, Aria sat beside him, putting a hand on his arm. "Ezra, I am so, so sorry. I should have told you as soon as it happened."

"You should have," he agreed, but went on quickly, "But I get why you didn't."

"Okay. I'm glad."

They sat side-by-side for a painstakingly long moment. Aria wondered if she should reach for him again, offer comfort in some way, but realized with a shiver that she had no desire to. The spark that had resonated between them even last week had given way to a dull, sad tension. It wasn't the first time that Aria had felt this way, but something about this felt different. Personal.

"I should go," she muttered, standing abruptly.

Ezra just nodded. She walked slowly toward the door and paused, turning. One last chance. She was giving him one last chance to call out to her, to ask her to stay. One last chance to change their story.

He stared forward and said nothing. Didn't even glance in her direction as she wordlessly slipped out of the apartment.


	6. Chapter 6

This one got kind of away from me, length-wise. As always, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed and left your thoughts! Getting your feedback makes my day! This chapter is the last that deals with the love interests for a while as we start delving more deeply into Hanna's situation. I hope you enjoy, and please remember to drop me a review!

* * *

Chapter 6

Spencer couldn't say that this was the first time she'd gone out of her way to avoid Toby. She had plenty of memories of ducking the other way in the hallways at school when she thought he killed Alison, of trying to use her hair as a curtain in front of her face after she accused him of siding with Jenna over her.

But when she walked out of the Brew and saw him just rounding the corner, she felt an urge to bolt that was stronger than ever before. Memories of slumping over in the woods, going practically catatonic in Radley, and falling into Toby's arms on a dusty motel bed whirled through her mind.

And then she thought about that RV, that clue-filled, amazing piece of evidence against A, and bile rose in her throat. She turned abruptly, even though her car was parked in the other direction.

"Spencer. Spencer!"

She wanted to flee so badly, to run until her lungs burned and her heart stopped aching, but her feet felt rooted to the sidewalk. She closed her eyes when a hand dropped onto her shoulder.

"Spencer," Toby said again, his voice pleading, and she finally forced herself to pivot. He stood behind her, wearing that same lost-puppy look she'd melted for a thousand times. "Can we talk?"

"I have some place to be," Spencer said automatically, even though she wasn't due for a tennis lesson at the country club for another two hours.

"Come on," Toby insisted, his frown deepening. "You won't answer my texts, you're rejecting my calls…I know you've been avoiding me."

All at once, Spencer felt the frustration that had been bubbling in her chest spill over. "Can you blame me?" she snapped. "God, Toby…after what you did…"

"I'm sorry," he cried. "Are you ever going to learn to trust me again?

 _That_ certainly sounded familiar. "I don't know," she admitted, her stomach dropping as the parallels between this conversation and one with another former member of the A team washed over her. When Toby's face visibly fell, she added, her heart twisting, "Look, Toby, I understand why you did what you did. With the RV. But it really screwed up a lot for the rest of us."

Toby sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know. I should have figured out a way to talk to you about it first. And I'm sorry for that."

It was the first apology he'd uttered for anything to do with this. Spencer knew she should have held out for more, _much_ more, but his tone was so earnest, his expression so yearning, that she couldn't help but take a small step closer. "It's not going to be that easy," she murmured, hating the crack in her voice.

She could have sworn that she saw a shine of tears appear in his eyes. "I know that. And I didn't come over here to beg you to take me back. There's something I need to tell you."

Those were never good words. Spencer felt her stomach clench. "What is it?"

"I talked to my dad last week. The night after we fought."

Spencer's breath hitched in her throat. "You did? What did he say?"

Toby glanced around, then took her by the arm and pulled her closer to the Brew, away from the center of the bustling sidewalk. "We were able to track down an old doctor at Radley, who remembered when my mom was a patient there. He always thought there was something suspicious about what happened to her, too."

"Suspicious how?"

"Suspicious as in the files on her death reported a 'disturbed patient' on the roof with her that night."

His tone was so foreboding that Spencer's pounding heart took a dive into her stomach. "Oh my god. Do you think…?"

"Someone pushed her? Yeah. I do."

"Oh my god," Spencer said again, his betrayal and their break up immediately flying out of her mind as she snapped fully back into detective mode. She had felt so helpless ever since Hanna got that threatening message from A. Finally, here was something she could sink her teeth into, something that felt within reach. "Toby, we have to go to Radley, we have to investigate this – "

"I already did," Toby cut her off, stopping her short. "My dad and I spent practically all week there. There's no proof, Spencer. Nothing that can confirm someone pushed her, or that Radley covered it up."

"But that doctor – "

"Is retiring at the end of this year. We asked. Said he didn't want anything getting in the way of his pension."

Spencer folded her arms, unable to wrap her head around what he was saying. "That doesn't mean it's over. I'll help you, we can go back and see – "

"No. We can't. Radley offered us a settlement. Her death was officially ruled an accident. And my dad accepted it."

All of the air whooshed out of Spencer's lungs. It was like someone had punched her in the stomach. "You're kidding."

"Spencer," Toby said, obviously confused by her intensity. "You're not listening. There wasn't anything else we could have done."

"Nothing else you could have done?" Spencer repeated, fury beginning to flood through her the same way it had that night on her back porch. "You _gave_ that RV to Red Coat because she promised you information about your mother! And you just threw that away?"

"No, I didn't," Toby insisted, his face beginning to darken as well. "You haven't been around. This week has been one of the hardest of my life."

"Oh? And whose fault is that?" Spencer snapped, furious at the idea he seemed to be suggesting, that it was _her_ decision to stay away, to avoid him, like he'd had nothing to do with it. "God, Toby, nothing's changed. Not only did you go behind my back and betray me _again,_ but you didn't even try and get anything out of it?"

"I thought you'd be happy," Toby said, stepping back from her. "This is the closure I never had."

Spencer just shook her head. A tiny part of her, deep down, knew she was veering into the territory of irrational, that the RV was gone and it didn't matter what Toby did or didn't do after the fact. But she was in too deep to back down now. And after everything else, this was just like rubbing salt in the wound.

"I'm glad you got what you wanted," she choked out, her throat constricting. "But I can't do this anymore. Not right now." She spun around and fled back into the Brew without a word, leaving him staring after her.

Spencer sank heavily onto one of the couches in the back of the coffee shop, breathing heavily. Her to-go cup was still clutched in her hand – and nearly full. But her brain had acted on autopilot, fight or flight mode. Half of her expected Toby to burst in after her, sink to his knees and promise that he'd make up for everything, that now that his mother's death was behind him they could focus on the missing RV and stopping Red Coat.

The vision was so real in her mind that when someone spoke from above her, she was convinced it was him. "Spencer?"  
Spencer's leg twitched. She snapped her head up, but her heart – and her mind – slammed back into reality at the sight of Mona standing beside the couch, holding a large cup of coffee and watching her cautiously.

 _Not now. Please not now,_ she thought desperately, even as Mona asked, stepping even closer, "Is everything okay? You look kind of lost."

"I'm fine," Spencer snapped, even as her eye chose that moment to release a tear, sending it rolling down her cheek.

Mona rolled her eyes and sat down right beside Spencer, who stiffened. "You're obviously not. This wouldn't have something to do with the brooding, former bad boy I spotted wandering away from here like an abandoned puppy, would it?"

Despite herself, Spencer nearly smiled. She'd had almost the exact same thought when she'd first seen Toby just minutes ago. But the moment passed just as quickly, and her chest tightened again. "Do you go to such lengths to pry into everyone's personal lives, or just mine?"

"You don't need to make it sound so malicious," Mona said. "Ever think I might actually be concerned?"

Spencer opened her mouth, gearing up to retort, when the energy rushed out of her body like a balloon deflating. Her fight with Toby had used up just about all of her emotional capacity. There was no way she was prepared to get into some battle of the wits with Mona right now.

But there was also no way she was going to sit here and share the details of her love life like they were best friends. "Nothing to be concerned about," she said briskly, rising to her feet again.

"You might as well be a ghost, you're so transparent," Mona replied, grabbing Spencer's arm and pulling her back down. Spencer stared, momentarily too stunned to respond. "And you look like you just saw one, too. Now come on. What's the deal? If you know something about that RV – "

"I don't," Spencer snapped, but she could feel her resolve beginning to crumble. Mona may not have been her friend, but maybe she was no longer her enemy, either. Hanna and Aria at least seemed convinced that she wasn't actively working to take them down.

Spencer knew that she would burst if she had to keep all of her feelings about Toby to herself. And maybe Mona was her best bet for getting an impartial opinion. Emily would always have rose-colored glasses on when it came to Toby, and she had a feeling Aria and Hanna still hadn't completely put away the metaphorical pitchforks after learning he'd faked his death.

But it was clear that the only person Mona truly cared about was herself, so who better than to get an objective perspective from?

And so the story was spilling from Spencer's lips before she even let herself really think about it. She hadn't intended on including all of the details, but there they were, all laid right out on the table: Toby stealing the RV, A's promise to reveal details about his mother's murder, the disturbed patient, the settlement with Radley…

By the time Spencer finally allowed herself to take a breath, Mona was watching her with wide eyes. It wasn't clear if she was shocked by the story, or by the fact that Spencer was confiding in her to begin with. "Wow," she muttered finally. "You certainly got that off your chest."

"Toby just told me about the settlement," Spencer sighed, not meeting her eyes. "You're the first person I've told."

She looked up just in time to see a flicker of _something_ pass across Mona's face – surprise, maybe, or even… _pride?_ – but in a flash it was gone. "I don't blame you for being upset. Although to be fair, I wouldn't have taken him back after he joined ranks with A in the first place."

Spencer let out a low, frustrated growl, already regretting telling her anything. "God, you're as helpful as always."

Mona raised her eyebrows. "If you wanted someone to wipe your tears and tell you how right you are, you should have gone to Emily."

Spencer's hand tightened around her cup of coffee so hard that the Styrofoam nearly split. "I knew this was a bad idea," she muttered, her heart pounding furiously. What had she been thinking? Since when was telling Mona _anything_ ever a good idea?

But Mona sighed, reaching out and touching Spencer's arm before she could storm off. "Look. I get it, okay? It was one betrayal after another, and for what?"

"Nothing," Spencer breathed, but couldn't help but add after a moment's hesitation, "Except closure for his mother's death."

Mona nodded thoughtfully. "You just have to ask yourself if that's worth it to you. If that's a good enough reason to do what he did. That'll be your answer to everything."

Spencer's stomach jolted nauseatingly. _Was it worth it?_ The question ran through her head, over and over. She opened her mouth, but no answer came to her. "I don't know if it is," she admitted.

"You don't have to know right now," Mona said with a laugh that was surprisingly free of malice. "But trust me, you're never going to get past this with Toby until you do."

Spencer stared at the girl sitting next to her, nearly beside herself. Mona was actually acting…well, like a real _person._ Not a cyber stalker living in an adrenalized reality, not a psychopath bent on ruining lives, but a normal teenage girl, giving normal dating advice. Well, aside from the fact that the "dating advice" happened to revolve around potential murder cover ups and stolen evidence.

"Uh, that's a good point," Spencer said, feeling fidgety and uncomfortable and oddly at ease all at once. She pictured Emily or Hanna or Aria giving her this same – admittedly good – advice, and couldn't conjure the image. Hanna would have gone off on a rant about Toby being a scumbag, Emily would have found a way to excuse what he'd done, and Aria probably would have only half-listened to begin with.

Spencer loved her friends with all of her heart. But right now, she was struck with gratitude that she hadn't rushed out the door as soon as she'd seen Mona standing above her.

"I know it is," Mona said primly, smiling. "Oh, and one other thing. You need to tell Hanna and the others. Everything."

Spencer stiffened. "I can't do that." She'd been keeping the secret about Toby's mom for over a week now. They'd be furious if they found out. They'd accuse her of lying for Toby once again, even after everything. They'd think she was pathetic.

"If you don't, you know a certain someone else will," Mona warned, almost like she'd read Spencer's mind. "And it'll be a lot worse if they hear it from A."

Spencer squeezed her eyes closed. Once again, she knew Mona was right. Red Coat was probably salivating right this minute over how much information Spencer had been concealing from her friends. She needed to come clean.

"I'll think about it, okay?" she relented, not about to give Mona the satisfaction of knowing she'd changed Spencer's mind completely. But the words were barely out of her mouth before something else occurred to her. "But what about the patient?"

"What patient?"

"The disturbed patient on the roof. Who was that? How can I just let that go? For all I know it has something to do with A."

Mona gave her a look, and Spencer shut her mouth quickly, realizing that she'd been rambling faster than she thought. "Why would some patient at Radley pushing Toby's mother off of the roof four years ago be related to A?"

Spencer's mouth twitched. "Doesn't it seem like everything is related to A?"

"Spencer," Mona sighed. "I love a good investigation as much as the next girl, but between the missing RV and that video of us putting our hands all over Wilden's trunk, do you really think you have enough brain space for this, too?"

Spencer's shoulders slumped. Truth be told, she wasn't sure that she did. Getting to the bottom of Toby's mother's possible murder was tempting, but Mona had a point. What were the odds that it actually had something to do with A?

And maybe she could only handle one villain at a time. She sighed, taking a sip of her drink. "I guess – "

"Spencer."

Spencer glanced up, trailing off as she looked away from her coffee. Mona was staring past her with a furrowed brow. Spencer whipped around.

Almost at once, she spotted a feminine form standing outside, peering into the Brew. The window was too cloudy to make out any specific features, but Spencer could clearly see the person's long, blond hair. And, more significantly, their bright red coat.

She could have sworn her heart stopped beating. She and Mona stared at each other. "Is that…?" The words caught in Spencer's throat.

Mona was already on her feet. "Come on."

The girls wound through tables at nearly a run, Mona nearly tripping over a customer's leg and Spencer coming dangerously close to spilling the contents of her coffee. She set it down hard on the front counter, and they burst through the door.

The sidewalk was completely empty. Spencer whipped back and forth, her chest heaving. "She was right here!"

"There!" Mona cried suddenly, pointing. Spencer followed her gaze just in time to see the tail of a red coat disappearing down a narrow side street. They exchanged a glance and, in the same moment, broke into a run after the figure.

Spencer's mind whirled as they darted down the sidewalk, dodging passersby and a standing chalkboard advertising a sale at the drug store. She knew how crazy they must have looked, sprinting down Rosewood's main street, Mona in heels and Spencer in a navy blazer and slacks. But she didn't care. The only thought on her mind was getting a glimpse, just the quickest look, at the face of the person who had been tormenting them for months on end.

Thanks to her longer legs, Spencer reached the side street first, and dashed into it so quickly that she had to touch the side of the brick building for balance. She stopped short, blood pumping in her ears, shock reverberating throughout her body as she stared, completely transfixed, at the short, deserted alleyway.

Mona caught up to her in seconds, breathing hard. "Oh my god," she gasped, her look of astonishment matching exactly how Spencer was feeling. "She's gone."

Spencer gazed from side to side, and even up at the sky, as if expecting to spot Red Coat waving at them from the roof. But all that surrounded them were red brick walls and a clear blue sky.

"That's not possible," she whispered, but the words felt clunky on her tongue. Because it was becoming increasingly obvious that _impossible_ was not a word that could ever be applied to A.


	7. Chapter 7

Sunday means a new chapter! Thank you as always to everyone who left feedback, your comments are always very much appreciated! Things are starting to heat up in this one. Please remember to drop me a review to let me know what you think!

In the next chapter, the PLLs follow a new lead into a possible connection to Red Coat.

* * *

Chapter 7

"Toby's mother was…murdered?" The word sounded foreign on Hanna's tongue. She stared across the bed at Spencer, who nodded gravely, looking sick to her stomach.

"He said there's no way to know for sure, but it makes more sense than anything else. And since when is A ever wrong about anything?"

"God, Spence," Aria muttered, scooting closer to Spencer and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah," Emily muttered. She twisted her thin, leather bracelet around and around her wrist. "It's awful."

Spencer stared down at Hanna's colorful bedspread, tracing the patterns with her fingers. Hanna could see the conflicting emotions passing across her face. "I think he just wants to move on from it. But I could tell he was hurting. I just…how can I bring myself to be there for him when he wasn't there for me?" Her voice cracked.

Hanna grimaced sympathetically. "I can't believe you even told us," she admitted. Spencer had been keeping Toby's secrets for so long, it had been shocking when she'd spilled everything this evening.

Spencer took a deep breath and cast a sideways look over at Mona, the fifth person perched on the bed. Something subtle passed between them. Hanna had barely believed her own eyes when Mona had showed up at the door with Spencer an hour ago. It was clear that something had changed between them, but neither of them had offered up any explanation.

Not that Hanna really cared to know. It seemed like whatever had happened, it had been a shift in the positive direction. And as a bonus, Aria had barely reacted when Mona had walked into the room, and Emily had merely let out an exasperated huff.

Hanna was sure they all still felt the same uncomfortable twinge – she did, too. But at least they were mostly attempting to hide it now. That, in her mind, was progress.

"So that's all you wanted to tell us?" Emily asked, not unkindly, though somewhat skeptically.

Spencer and Mona exchanged another glance, which prompted Hanna, Aria, and Emily to do the same. "What, you two have secrets now?" Aria said.

"No secrets," Mona said slowly. "Just new developments."

Hanna furrowed her brow. She hated whenever Mona got all vague and mysterious. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We had another run-in with Red Coat," Spencer finally responded. "She was spying on us in the Brew, and she vanished when we tried to chase her."

"Why would she be spying on you?" Emily asked, as Hanna tried to process the idea of Spencer and Mona hanging out at the Brew together. This day just kept getting stranger and stranger.

"To prove that she could," Mona said simply, shrugging. "There's nothing A loves more than showing us that she's in charge, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"That does not make me feel any better," Hanna muttered, suppressing a shiver.

"What, the thought of Red Coat lurking around every corner?" Aria made a face. "Yeah, me neither."

Emily glanced between Spencer and Mona, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean she _vanished?_ You were on the street, right? Did you lose her?"

"That's the thing," Spencer said vehemently, shaking her head. "We _didn't._ She turned down a dead-end alley, but when we followed her, she was gone. Like she disappeared into thin air." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

Hanna wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a sudden chill. "God, that bitch really _does_ have super powers," she mumbled, thinking back to the same unsettled feeling she'd gotten outside of Dr. Sullivan's office, almost a year ago.

Mona rolled her eyes. "She obviously didn't turn invisible, or fly up to the roof. There must be something we missed."

"Wait." Aria sat up straight with a jolt. She licked her lower lip thoughtfully. "You said it was the alley right by the Brew?" When Spencer nodded, she went on, "There _is_ a door back there. It leads to that old record store. I used to go there all the time with Ali."

The chill that Hanna was feeling intensified at her words. "With Ali?" she repeated, dread growing in her stomach. She'd had a strange intuition about Red Coat for a while now, since the incident at the lodge at least, but she'd been holding back on confessing it to her friends. She was sure they'd think she was crazy. But after what she'd seen during the fire…and now this new sighting…maybe they'd realize she was on to something. She took a deep breath. "Guys, I have a bad thought."

"What is it?" Emily asked, leaning forward in obvious concern.

Hanna pinched her palm, which was suddenly slick from nerves. "What if Red Coat knew about that door to the record store because…Red Coat _is_ Alison?"

Her words were met with a stunned, deafening silence. Mona stared down at her lap, visibly paling. Spencer and Emily exchanged a long look. Aria met Hanna's eyes, her expression blank. "What?" she finally said, her voice almost completely emotionless.

Hanna flinched at the unexpected reaction, but plowed ahead. She couldn't stop now. "I know what I saw outside the lodge. It was Alison."

"You don't know what you saw," Mona said, with surprising sharpness. "You were hopped up on smoke fumes, we all were."

"She wasn't!" Hanna insisted, pointing at Spencer frantically. "And you said you saw her too, right?" Spencer just lowered her gaze, not responding, and Hanna felt a flush of irritation. "Seriously? You told us – "

"I know I did," Spencer cut her off. "But Han, that was a crazy night. And we know Red Coat has a mask of Ali's face."

"It was dark, there was a lot of smoke," Emily added, her voice gentle, as though Hanna was a skittish deer about to flee. "None of us can really know what we saw. And Alison's dead."

"Do we really know that for sure?" Hanna burst out, one last desperate attempt.

Aria groaned. "It wasn't Ali, okay? Look," she went on, softening her tone, "I get it. It would be an easy answer. But…" She trailed off, shaking her head faintly.

Spencer finished the thought for her. "Nothing with A is ever easy."

Hanna sat back against the headboard, unsatisfied and unconvinced. Ali had hovered right above her that night, blinking down at her in trepidation. It had really been her. Hanna was sure of it.

And she wasn't going to let it go until they agreed to at least _consider_ the possibility. After all, they'd gone to Ali's funeral about a bazillion times, and they'd never once seen her body. That had to mean something, didn't it?

But the doorbell rang just as she was opening her mouth to try again. The girls' eyes all landed on her. "Is that Caleb?" Emily asked.

Hanna frowned. "No. He's still with his dad."

The five of them fell silent, listening as Ashley answered the door. Hanna wasn't sure why she felt such a pinch of anxiety, but as soon as she heard the deep, stern voices mumbling downstairs, her stomach flipped.

"Come on," she whispered, and the girls quietly got to their feet. Hanna led the way into the hallway. She was halfway downstairs before she could peer over the railing and get a look at the front door.

Ashley stood in the doorway, facing two male officers in uniform. One was holding a large cardboard box. The other held out a single sheet of paper. Hanna's heart took a dive. "Mom?" she asked, glancing back at her friends before descending the rest of the stairs. "What's going on?"

Ashley stepped back, her face white. "Hanna. Go back upstairs. All of you."

"No," Hanna protested, her fear intensifying with every passing moment.

"Miss, we have a warrant to search this house," one of the officers – neither of which were Holbrook – said with a straight face, waving the paper in her direction.

Both Emily and Aria gasped. Hanna barely heard them. She kept her eyes trained on her mother, who folded her arms, clearly trying to look stronger than she felt. "You still haven't told me why you're doing this."

"With a warrant, we don't need to," the second officer replied flatly. "But let's just say we received an anonymous tip linking you to the murder of Detective Darren Wilden."

Hanna stumbled back. Her chest felt like it was going to collapse. She whipped around, her eyes scanning the stunned faces of her friends, still clustered on the stairs behind her. Mona's eyes locked onto hers. _The chip,_ she mouthed, completely inaudibly.

Hanna couldn't even bring herself to nod. A had really done it. A had turned in the video of Ashley knocking Wilden out of her way like a bowling pin to the police.

And now this was the beginning of the end.

"Mom," she whispered desperately, rushing over and grabbing her mother by the arm as the officers moved into the living room. "You didn't do anything."

"Shh," Ashley replied sternly. She attempted a small smile. "It's going to be fine." The tremor in her voice gave away her fear.

"Ma'am, we're going to need to take a look upstairs," the taller officer declared after a few tense moments, shaking the empty box slightly.

"Of course, I'll – I'll show you the way," Ashley stammered, and disappeared up the stairs, with the officers right behind her.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Hanna and the others converged in the kitchen. Hanna's whole body was shaking. She hugged herself, feeling completely out of control. "This is a disaster. You guys, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"Han, it'll be okay," Aria murmured, squeezing Hanna's arm gently.

"You have nothing to worry about," Mona added. "That video doesn't prove anything. And we know Ms. M's innocent."

"Yeah," Emily agreed, though not looking in her direction. "The police won't find anything, and they'll move on."

Hanna nodded, trying to force herself to believe them, but without much success. Nothing was ever that easy when it came to A. And she had a bad feeling this was only the start of A's newest plan.

The sound of footsteps clamoring back down the stairs sent Hanna and the others rushing back into the entryway. The officers thanked Ashley and moved toward the door, but Hanna leaned forward, getting a glimpse inside the box, before they could turn it away from her.

Her mom's cell phone, laptop, and –

"A gun?" Hanna screeched, her eyes widening. Her heart thumped with shock as she looked to her mother for answers. The most serious weapon she'd ever seen Ashley handle was a steak knife.

Ashley's hands were shaking. She clasped them together in front of her. "It was your father's," she explained quietly. "He kept it hidden in our closet. He must have left it behind when he moved out."

"We'll have your things back in a few days," the shorter officer said gruffly, pulling open the door. "Thanks for your time." They were gone without another word.

Hanna whipped around to face her friends again. This time, her terror was reflected on their faces, and she had a feeling she knew what they were all thinking.

Wilden had died due to gunshot wounds. And if dealing with A had taught Hanna one thing, it was that in Rosewood, there was no such thing as a coincidence.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, this chapter's length definitely makes up for the last one being on the short side. Thank you as always for all of the great feedback! I hope you enjoy this one, and please let me know what you think! I should definitely be able to have the next chapter up next Sunday, but as it's the day I'm moving back into college, it might be somewhat earlier or later than usual!

* * *

Chapter 8

Emily could feel her shoulders tense the moment she stepped off of Rosewood's main street and into the small, narrow alley. Her eyes landed on the door to Spin Table Records, which was practically undetectable from the street, and only identifiable from the alley by the small decal on the door.

When Hanna had brought up the idea of going to the record store and digging up any information they could find on Red Coat, Emily had been the only one to protest. Spencer had even wondered if they should consider sneaking in after closing – although they'd ultimately decided against that method. Emily had a feeling their sudden enthusiasm had more to do with trying to get Hanna's mind off of Wilden rather than an actual hope that the dusty little store would hold answers.

But she couldn't bring herself to feel anything other than a flutter of nervous dread. As she reluctantly followed the others down the narrow alleyway toward the shop's entrance, she felt her palms begin to itch.

She'd spent the entire drive over trying to convince herself that her unease was just due to the fact that _anything_ to do with Red Coat was unsettling. But deep down, she knew it was more than that.

What Hanna had said in her room the day before, about Alison possibly being alive, possibly being the person stalking them in a red trench coat, had struck a chord within her. As slim as the chance seemed, she could barely bring herself to consider it. The thought of Ali running away that night, letting Emily believe she was dead for _so long,_ made bile rise in her throat. And the thought that she could be Red Coat?

It was like a wall went up in her brain. She wouldn't even let herself go there.

Just as Spencer was pushing open the door to the record store, the little bells above it tinkling cheerfully, Emily felt as though concrete had been poured over her feet, rooting them to the ground. "I still think this is a waste of time," she announced, hating the waver in her voice, and yet unable to force herself to go in there, to potentially get any closer to discovering if Hanna's awful, heartbreaking theory could be true.

A hand wrapped around her forearm. Mona pulled her forward. "Oh, don't be such a negative Nancy," she said in a singsong, but then lowered her voice and whispered, more harshly, "We're doing this for Hanna."

Her theory confirmed, Emily cut her eyes instinctively to Hanna. The blonde had just stepped into the store, and was gazing around with an expression of vague curiosity, but Emily could still make out the heavy dark circles under her eyes, and the slight strain on her features. That search warrant had obviously, and understandably, hit her hard.

"Come on," Mona urged, following the others into the store. Emily swallowed hard and stepped through the doorway. It was still surreal to her that Mona had managed to weasel her way so far into their group in just a matter of weeks. And it was even more surreal that, when she really thought about it, she no longer felt the urge to take a swing every time she saw her face.

In no world was Emily ready to forgive and forget. She'd felt that familiar sinking feeling of dismay when Hanna had picked her up twenty minutes ago, with Mona riding shotgun. But she had to admit, Mona's resourcefulness did tend to come in handy. It was almost like having two Spencers, although she would never dare say that aloud.

By the time Emily finally steeled herself enough to walk into the small, musty store, the others were already scattered around, flipping through stacks of dust-covered records or inconspicuously eyeing the college-aged worker, who was sitting beside an old-fashioned cash register and staring at his phone, paying them no attention.

"Ugh." Hanna picked up a record and immediately dropped it back onto the rack. A cloud of dust puffed around it. "I don't think these things have been moved since the CD player was invented."

"What, exactly, are we looking for?" Aria asked. She held a record up to the light, as if trying to search for a secret message.

Mona waved away particles of dust floating in front of her face, wrinkling her nose. "Call me a cynic, but I don't think we're going to find any answers shifting through stacks of vinyl."

Spencer suddenly straightened. Emily recognized the posture and expression immediately – it was her professional, sweet but stern, "time for answers" look. Sure enough, she stalked right up to the boy at the desk without hesitation.

"Excuse me," she said with a warm smile. He completely ignored her, enamored with his phone. Spencer cleared her throat sharply, and he finally jerked his head up, as if he hadn't even heard them come in. "Hi. My friends and I – " Her eyes flitted briefly to Mona, but her voice didn't falter. " – were wondering if you could help us out with something."

He glanced behind her, sweeping his gaze around at the rest of them. Emily felt heat rise to her face, sure for a moment that he was going to take Spencer's request as flirting. But he merely said flatly, "You need help finding a record?"

"Not a record," Spencer replied. "A person. We're looking for our friend." The boy raised his eyebrows, obviously taken aback, but didn't protest. Spencer went on, her voice quickening, "Have you seen a girl in a red coat? A trench coat, maybe with a hood…"

"A blonde," Emily jumped in quickly, stepping up next to Spencer and making sure her voice sounded soft and innocent. She shot her friend a warning look. As good as her intentions were, sometimes Spencer could get a little too intense, a little too quickly.

Emily could sense the others moving closer as the employee glanced between her and Spencer. He took so long to answer that she felt her heart shudder strangely inside of her chest, as though it wasn't sure whether to lift in hope or plummet in terror.

At last, he shook his head slowly, his expression giving away nothing. "Don't think so. Sorry."

"You're sure?" Aria asked, resting her hands flat on the counter. "Not…the day before yesterday?"

"I was here that whole day," he said with a shrug, his eyes already darting back to his phone. "I didn't see any blonde in a red coat."

"Is there anyone else who works here?" Mona said.

"Just me in here. But…"

Something in his voice made Emily's stomach twist. She leaned forward. "What?"

The boy turned in his seat, glancing back at a small doorway in the very back of the store. It was narrow and almost unnoticeable, except for the beaded curtain that served as the barrier into the next room. "You could ask Madame Vera."

"Madame Vera?" Hanna repeated. "Who's that?"

He rolled his eyes and reached down, pulling a sheet of paper out from his side of the desk. He pushed it across the tabletop to them. _Madame Veritas,_ the pamphlet read. _Palm readings, tarot cards, crystals. Let your truth be revealed._ "The owner thought she'd bring in more business," the employee explained. "One session's free with any purchase."

Emily's breath quickened. She looked back at the others. Hanna and Aria were gazing back with equally conflicted expressions, but she caught Spencer and Mona exchanging an eye roll. "Veritas," Spencer muttered in explanation. "It's Latin for truth."

"Sounds like a quack," Mona added, and for a second Emily expected her to turn on her heel and stalk right out of the store. But then her expression shifted, and she added, "But fraud or not, she might have seen something." Before anyone could react, she snatched a record from the nearest rack and smacked it down on the counter. "Ring me up."

Several minutes later, Emily led the way nervously to the back of the store. Her stomach swirled as she pushed aside the beaded strands of the curtain. _Fortune-tellers aren't real,_ she told herself sternly. _She can't tell you anything for sure._ But it was the "what if?" that made her want to run all the way back out into the alley, onto the street, and out of Rosewood completely.

The backroom was small and almost completely dark. Boxes of what were likely extra vinyl records were stacked along one wall, but the others were covered in thick velvet hangings. A small, round table occupied the center of the room. A sparkling crystal ball, along with two small decks of cards, took up most of its surface.

Emily blinked hard to adjust her eyes. She could just make out a figure sitting in a chair at the table, wearing what looked to be the cliché fortune-teller getup: A scarf tied around her hair and long, silk robes.

The woman did not turn, but Emily had barely stepped into the room when she bellowed, her voice dark and husky, "You may enter."

Emily froze. She must have just heard the beads clinking together as they pushed aside the curtain, right? Someone gave her a small shove from behind, and she stumbled into the room.

The girls walked slowly around the table to face Madame Vera. With her thick foundation and bright purple eye shadow, she reminded Emily of the obviously fake fortune-teller at last year's homecoming dance. Her stereotypical appearance lessened Emily's nerves just the slightest bit. There was no way this woman would know anything.

Spencer, once again, thankfully took the lead, pushing to the front of the group and shooting Madame Vera the same people-pleasing smile she'd given the boy at the front counter. "Hi, sorry to interrupt, we just – "

"One, two, three, four, five?" the fortune-teller interrupted, extending a bony, manicured finger and pointing at each of them in turn. Her mouth twisted. "Oh no, far too many energies in this room. Three of you must go, I will tell the fortunes of those who stay."

Emily exchanged a glance with Aria as Spencer shook her head, her smile slipping. "Oh no, I'm sorry, we don't actually need you to read our fortunes, we were just wondering if you'd seen a friend of ours?"

Madame Vera paused, giving her a long, inscrutable look. Then she placed her hand calmly on one of the stacks of tarot cards. "Here, we let the aura speak for itself."

Spencer opened and closed her mouth, looking like she wasn't sure what to make of this. Afraid that she was about to say something they'd all regret, Emily stepped in. "Are you sure we can't just ask you – "

"I am not an information desk," Madame Vera boomed. Emily startled. "You have come for me to reveal your truths. Two of you, sit." It was a command, not a request. She gestured to the two stools opposite her.

Mona sat down without hesitation. "I'm the one who bought the record," she declared when Spencer made a small noise of protest.

Aria turned to Emily and the others, her brow furrowed. "Who else?"

Emily nudged Hanna. "Coming here was your idea."

Hanna held up her hands in a surrender position. "Going _there_ was my idea," she whispered, pointing toward the doorway to the record store. "Not here! This is freaking me out."

Mona let out a huff of impatience. "Oh, just decide already."

"I will make the decision," Madame Vera asserted, in that same deep, loud voice. Then, to Emily's horror, the fortune-teller's eyes landed directly on her. "You."

Emily placed a hand on her chest. She could feel her heart beating wildly. "Me?"

"I sense an interesting energy from you. Sit."

Emily wasn't sure why her nerves were jangling so fiercely. Maybe it was because of the strong smell of incense in the room. Or maybe, deep down, it was because she feared what Madame Vera would say.

But the woman was looking at her so intensely that she knew she didn't really have a choice. Emily sank onto the stool beside Mona, her legs shaking slightly. "We'll be right outside," Spencer promised, before disappearing back through the curtain, with Aria and Hanna on her heels.

Madame Vera laced her fingers together and leaned forward. "Who's first?"

Emily's voice spoke without her brain's permission. "I am. Let's get this over with."

The fortune-teller looked unimpressed by Emily's lack of enthusiasm, but reached out for her hand anyway. "A palm reading for you," she announced, turning Emily's hand over in her own. She ran her fingers lightly over the lines etched into Emily's palm. The sensation tickled. She resisted the urge to pull away.

"Hmm," Madame Vera murmured after a few long moments of silence. "You have an unusually strong love line. I'm getting the sense that you've had several intense lovers in your past and present."

Mona smirked at the word "lovers." Emily would have smacked her if she wasn't too afraid to make a move. Madame Vera appeared to be waiting for a response, so Emily forced a small nod. "Um, I – I guess so."

"Mm-hm. I'm sensing a lot of passion in your love life. A lot of conflict in the past…and in the future."

"Wait." Emily's heart leapt into her throat. "The future?" Paige and her acceptance to Stanford flashed through her mind.

"The waters are calm for you now," Madame Vera said, her voice practically a whisper. "But they will not remain that way. I'm sensing – yes, right here – " She pushed down on Emily's palm, right below her ring finger. " – someone from your past, about to return. Someone you loved deeply."

Emily could feel blood rushing in her head. Beside her, Mona snorted and rolled her eyes, shooting Emily a quick look that clearly said, _She's whacked._ Emily tried to channel that same disdain. But Hanna's words from the day before, about Alison, whirred through her head. She cleared her throat, which had suddenly gone bone-dry. "Someone from my past. Like…someone I loved in a…in, um, a romantic way?"

Madame Vera considered this, running her fingers along the same line in Emily's hand. "Hard to say," she admitted. "We do not ask the palm questions. It tells us what it wants us to know."

Mona gave Emily another look, as if this was proof that all of this was nonsense. Emily's hand felt like it was burning. She pulled away sharply. "Okay. Can we move on to her now?"

Madame Vera gave Emily one last, unsettlingly knowing look, then shifted to face Mona. She studied her carefully. "A crystal ball forecast for you, I think," she declared. She gestured for Mona to place her hands on the glass ball between them, and she complied, albeit with obvious reluctance. The fortune-teller did the same from her side of the table.

Again, silence as Madame Vera ran her hands over the surface of the glass, her eyes flitting over something that Emily couldn't see. Then the woman closed her eyes with a sharp intake of breath that nearly sent Emily jumping out of her chair in alarm. "Oh, my. What a busy energy you have. Not a moment of peace."

Mona narrowed her eyes, looking suddenly guarded. "You're telling me."

"Your mind is constantly troubled," Madame Vera murmured, once again gazing intently into the crystal ball. "Constantly moving, but very clear…except…except for this."

"What do you see?" Mona asked. She was attempting to feign nonchalance, but Emily could see the trepidation in her eyes that she herself had been feeling just moments before.

"You have gone unrivaled, until now. I could say that you are about to meet your match," Madame Vera whispered, "but that would not be accurate, for you have already met. I see an underlying danger in your life. This remains consistent, but your relationship with another force is about to change. It will test your strength, your honesty, and, most importantly, your view of yourself. The crystal shows – "

"You know what? We're done here." Mona yanked her hands away from the crystal ball, startling Emily. Madame Vera just blinked at her calmly. "This is all such obvious bull. Come on." She grabbed Emily's wrist and practically dragged her back through the beaded curtain before Emily had time to even process what was happening.

Spencer, Aria, and Hanna were huddled around a box of vinyl records from the late sixties. They looked up, their eyes widening at the sight of Mona pulling Emily toward them, her face angry but also white as a sheet.

"Well?" Spencer demanded, descending on them immediately. "How'd it go?"

Emily opened her mouth, thinking back to the fortune-teller's words about someone from her past returning, but Mona beat her to it. "It was ridiculous. Clearly a fraud, just like I said."

Spencer and Aria exchanged a glance. Hanna frowned. "Em? What do you think?"

Emily found herself at a loss for words. Her mind was spinning, and her head felt cloudy from the musty smell of the room. "It was…vague," she said, choosing her words carefully. "She kept talking about someone returning. She said that to both of us."

Hanna gasped. "Someone like Ali?"

"No," Aria snapped.

"It was nothing. Just a waste of time. Let's get out of here." Mona spun around and stalked toward the door. The others followed, glancing at each other in obvious confusion. Emily trailed after them, trying to decipher the expression on Mona's face. She looked spooked. Almost, Emily realized, petrified.

But why would she be, if she thought Madame Vera really was nothing but a fraud? Emily wrapped her arms around herself to suppress a sudden shiver. Maybe Mona believed the fortune-teller's words a little more than she claimed.

 _And so do you,_ a little voice in the back of her head taunted. Emily pushed it firmly aside. That was what people like this did. They lured you in, made up a bunch of vague prophecies that could apply to literally anything, and convinced you that they were being more specific than they actually were.

And anyway, even if Madame Vera's words did hold some merit, they certainly didn't have to be talking about Ali. She couldn't even confirm if the person returning to Emily's life was someone she'd loved in a romantic way. For all either of them knew, it could be as simple as Emily's dad coming home between deployments.

Emily was so lost in thought that she didn't realize she'd been left behind until the door swung shut behind her friends. She jumped, torn out of her own mind, and rushed after them.

She didn't have to go far. The girls were gathered in the alleyway, just outside the door to the record store, frozen in place. Emily nearly ran into Aria. "What are you doing?"

Aria turned, her eyes wide. "Look."

Emily pushed gently between her and Spencer. As soon as she got a look at the brick wall opposite them, her heart dropped like a stone into her stomach. She took in the dripping white letters that had been painted, clear as day, directly in front of them.

 _You don't need a fortune-teller to tell you your futures. Stop digging where you don't belong, or I'll make sure you don't have a future at all. –A_


	9. Chapter 9

And we're back! I didn't intend to take nearly so long between updates, but between starting another semester and not quite knowing how to shape this chapter, time got away from me. But as always, thank you to everyone who left feedback! I should be able to get the next chapter up much more quickly. Please continue to review and let me know what you think, your feedback is what gives me the inspiration to keep going!

* * *

Chapter 9

"You realize that this is a really bad idea, right?" Aria rocked back on her heels, staring up at the Victorian-style house towering above her. "Like, really, really bad."

Spencer lifted a dish of lasagna out of the backseat of the car. "Aria, relax," she said insistently as she started confidently up the DiLaurentis' front steps. "You're just going to take a quick look around while I talk to Ali's mom. She won't know a thing."

The thought of sneaking around Alison's house sent a wave of nausea through Aria. "Wait. I thought you didn't believe she could be alive," she cried, rushing onto the front porch after Spencer and grabbing her arm before she could ring the doorbell. "You don't actually believe that fortune teller, do you?"

"Of course not," Spencer scoffed. She pulled her hand out of Aria's grasp and rang the bell firmly. "But…there are a few things that aren't adding up, okay? I just want to make sure we're covering all our bases."

Aria sighed. She recognized that familiar twinkle in Spencer's eyes. There was no way she was going to be talked out of this. And before she could even try again, the door swung open and Jessica DiLaurentis stood before them.

Aria stared. She hadn't seen Ali's mom since the fashion show disaster. And standing here on the front porch, she almost felt like she was showing up to a sleepover in ninth grade, like Ali was going to pop up in the doorway behind her mother and beckon the girls inside.

But of course she didn't, and Jessica gave them a warm, slightly confused smile. "Spencer. Aria. What a nice surprise."

"Hi, Mrs. DiLaurentis," Spencer said. She held out the foil-covered dish. "We heard you just moved back in, and we wanted to welcome you back."

"How sweet of you. Why don't you girls come in?" Jessica stepped aside, and Spencer shot Aria a quick, satisfied look before striding into the house. Aria followed, sidestepping a few stacks of boxes in the entryway. "Excuse the mess," Jessica called over her shoulder as she led them into the kitchen. "I haven't had much of a chance to start unpacking."

"Oh, it's fine," Spencer said. As Jessica turned to set the dish on the counter, she nudged Aria pointedly. _Bathroom,_ she mouthed.

Aria's throat felt dry. She cleared it painfully. "Um, Mrs. DiLaurentis, would you mind if I used the restroom?"

For the briefest moment, Aria could have sworn Jessica's expression darkened. But then her smile was back. "Of course. Use the powder room, the bathroom upstairs has a plumbing issue."

Spencer and Aria exchanged a glance. Jessica's voice had the familiar tightness to it that Aria recognized immediately as a lie. Spencer coughed slightly and began engaging Jessica in a conversation about some new changes to the menu at the Apple Rose Grille, and Aria backed out of the room, making sure Ali's mother's back was to her before she turned away from the powder room and toward the stairs.

Aria slipped upstairs as quietly as possible. She only had a few minutes. She needed to make them count.

She padded down the familiar hallway, dodging cardboard boxes and pieces of furniture that surrounded her. It looked like the DiLaurentises hadn't unpacked at all. The door to Alison's old room was at the very end of the hall. Aria took a deep breath to compose herself, pushed it open, and immediately let out a gasp.

It was like she'd stepped back in time. The room was exactly the same as it had been the night Alison disappeared. The same black and white duvet covered the bed. The closet door was half open, revealing a neat row of clothes. The same photographs and knickknacks were spread across the dresser.

Aria had to grab hold of the doorjamb for support. Well, now she knew why Mrs. DiLaurentis hadn't unpacked the rest of the house. She'd been too busy in here.

Shakily, she flicked on the light and entered, easing the door mostly closed behind her. She could hear Spencer and Jessica's voices drifting up from the floor below, but she knew that time was running out. Even so, she couldn't help but take a moment to gaze around the room, bewildered.

She knew that it wasn't uncommon for parents to deal with grief by leaving their child's room intact. But this was on a different level entirely. Jessica hadn't just set up the basics of Ali's old room. She'd gotten every detail down to a T. Like she was waiting for Ali to walk through the door any day now and reclaim her bedroom.

Like she was _expecting_ it.

A shiver shot down Aria's spine. For the first time, the thought that Hanna's theory wasn't so unbelievable flitted through her mind. The hairbrush on the dresser even had a few blond hairs still clinging to it.

Thoroughly creeped out, Aria stooped down to peer under the bed. She still wasn't sure what she was looking for, but now she was even more determined to find something that proved Ali was alive – or the opposite.

She got to her feet and backed up a few steps, wondering if she had time to check Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurentis' bedroom. Lost in thought, she backed up right into the wall. Her shoulder knocked against the large framed print. It wobbled, then fell to the ground with a thud.

Aria cursed under her breath, whipping around. Thankfully, she could still hear low voices coming from the kitchen below her, seemingly oblivious. Aria knelt down to pick up the picture, but her hand froze inches away from it.

There was something strange about this frame. The back of the picture was covered in brown paper, and it was split down the center, held together by several pieces of tape.

Aria wasn't even sure what it was that caught her attention. The picture easily could have been ripped during the move. Maybe it was the old, yellowing tape, or maybe just her own heightened curiosity, but she leaned over the frame and carefully picked off the tape, piece by piece. Then she held the picture upside down and shook it gently.

Something thumped within the frame, the cut in the paper tore open, and Aria gasped as a Ziploc bag full of hundred dollar bills landed neatly on the carpet in front of her.

…

"How much was there?"

"I'm not sure." Aria looked away from Hanna's questioning gaze, shifting uncomfortably on one of the stools at the Marins' kitchen island, which she and the others were gathered around. She glanced at the open, untouched box of pizza in front of them. They'd ordered it just for something to do while they waited for Emily to finish her shift at the Brew, but no one had a particularly large appetite. "I didn't have time to count it, I just shoved it back in the frame and ran out."

Hanna gave Aria an exasperated look. "I can't believe you didn't at least take it with you."

"She couldn't have," Mona insisted. Aria flinched – even though she was no longer disturbed by Mona's presence, it was still surprising to hear her voice during these group meet-ups. "What if it really was Mrs. D who put it there? If she found out it was gone, we'd be in even more trouble."

Spencer leaned her elbows on the counter, frowning thoughtfully. "You said it was at least a few thousand, right?" she asked Aria, who nodded.

"Something like that. As far as I could tell, it was all hundred dollar bills."

Emily furrowed her brow. "Let's assume it _was_ Ali who hid it there. Why would she have that much money stashed in her room? Where did she even get it?"

"I don't know," Hanna sighed.

All at once, the realization hit Aria like a baseball to the head. "My dad," she blurted, and four heads turned to look quizzically at her. "Don't you guys remember? Ali was blackmailing my dad the summer she went missing. She wrote about in her diary."

"You're right," Spencer gasped. "For, what was it, fifteen thousand dollars?"

"I don't think there was that much in there," Aria admitted. "But maybe around half."

"If Ali really is alive, don't you think she would've come back for that money?" Mona questioned. "It's not like she could just go get a job."

"Unless she's too scared to come back," Hanna protested.

Emily looked around at them all. "Guys, I thought we weren't jumping to any conclusions about Alison."

"Em, we have to consider every possibility," Spencer said insistently.

"Speaking of possibilities," Aria interrupted, a new thought occurring to her, "can we talk about why Mrs. DiLaurentis has Ali's bedroom set up like she's waiting for her to come back?"

"Maybe she is, subconsciously." Mona twisted her ring around her finger inattentively. "It just might be her way of coping with Alison's death."

Hanna looked at her dubiously. "After two years? Come on. I didn't even see it, and I still have goose bumps."

"Spencer?" Aria asked, peering at her friend, who had just turned a shade paler. "You okay?"

"What if Alison was planning on running away?" The words were barely more than a whisper, but a hush fell over the group. Aria's heart flipped. She gestured for Spencer to continue. "The money stashed in her room, the times we thought we saw her…and she made this comment to me once, just a few weeks before she disappeared, about how we'll need her diaries once she's gone. I didn't know what it meant at the time, but now…"

"It makes sense," Mona cut in. "If Alison is actually alive, she probably had the whole thing planned for months."

Emily looked sick to her stomach. Aria didn't blame her. The thought of Ali planning on faking her death, on running away and leaving them to grieve for her, wasn't exactly something she liked to dwell on. But one thing still didn't add up. "But why wouldn't she take the money with her?"

The girls exchanged glances. No one seemed to have a good answer. After a few long, tense moments, Hanna shrugged and said quietly, "Maybe something went wrong."

Now Aria was starting to feel the queasiness that Emily was wearing all over her face. Something went wrong – how? As in Ali had to run away sooner than she'd expected, maybe because A was after her? Or as in Ali actually _did_ end up dead?

It was all too much to think about, and Aria was so lost in thought that the sound of the doorbell ringing nearly sent her right off the stool. "God, what now?" Hanna groaned, heaving herself up and leaving the kitchen.

The girls sat in a terse silence, inhaling the cheesy smell of the pizza and listening to the sound of the door clicking open. But then a gruff male voice spoke, and Aria's heart plummeted into her stomach. "Hanna. Is your mother home?"

"Holbrook," Spencer whispered, and the four girls practically fell over themselves in their haste to get to the entryway.

Aria stumbled down the hallway, her heart pounding in her chest at the sight of Holbrook standing at the door, flanked by Tanner and another officer. Hanna glanced back. Her face was white with fear. "No. She's not."

"We received the results we needed from the search warrant," Tanner said coolly, walking inside without so much as asking for permission.

"W-what do you mean?" Hanna asked, her voice trembling uncontrollably. Aria pressed a hand to her stomach, resisting the urge to rush forward and grab Hanna's hand. She hoped beyond anything that they were just here to return what they'd taken, and perhaps issue an apology for the intrusion, but her faith was fleeting.

"The gun we confiscated from this house was a positive match for the one used to kill Detective Wilden," Tanner explained. Her face gave away nothing. Beside Aria, Mona's breath hitched in her throat. "And the fingerprint check told us all we needed to know."

Hanna backed up, nearly running into the girls. Her eyes filled with tears. Emily reached out to steady her. "My mom's not home," Hanna whispered again.

"That's alright," Holbrook said. "We'll call her from the station."

Aria gasped. They were going to tell Hanna's mom _over the phone_ that she was going to be arrested? That seemed like a stretch, even for the Rosewood police.

"No." Hanna's voice was tight and thin. "You can't. She didn't do anything."

Tanner and Holbrook exchanged a look. To Aria, they almost seemed amused. "Your mother? I don't think you understand," Holbrook said, one half of his mouth twitching.

Tanner took a few paces forward. She gestured to the officer behind her, who followed. The sound of his handcuffs dislodging from his belt resonated throughout the hallway. "Girls, step back, please," Tanner commanded, meeting the eyes of Aria, Mona, Spencer, and Emily in turn. They obeyed, at a loss.

Aria could feel the blood rushing to her head as Tanner turned to a stricken, confused Hanna. "Hanna Marin, you're under arrest for the murder of Darren Wilden."

* * *

In the next chapter, the girls deal with the fallout of Hanna's arrest, and learn the truth behind the incriminating evidence against her.


	10. Chapter 10

Time really does fly, because I could have sworn that it had only been a few weeks since I last updated, and then I looked at my stats...yeah, it's been almost two months. I'm super sorry about the long wait, but with the semester coming to an end in a few weeks, I should be able to start updating more regularly very soon!

I'm curious to know what you guys think about this chapter. To be honest, I'm not even sure if _I_ really like the plot twist here, but here we are. I hope you enjoy, and I'm hoping to get the next update up much more quickly!

* * *

Chapter 10

Hanna had thought nothing could be more degrading than picking up trash on the side of the road wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit.

But it turned out that sitting in a cold jail cell wearing a hideous orange jumpsuit was far, far worse.

It had been the longest forty-eight hours of her life. Longer than when she'd found out Caleb was working for Jenna, right after they'd slept together for the first time. Longer than the night she'd spent in the police station's interrogation room, wearing an itchy bridesmaid dress. Longer, even, than the several days she'd spent waiting for the results of the search warrant.

As much as this whole situation sucked, the one good thing Hanna had to say was that at least it was her locked up here, and not her mother. Ashley had sat across the table from her just a few hours ago, the second Hanna was allowed visitors. With a wavering voice and teary eyes, she'd promised Hanna that she was working with Veronica Hastings, that they would get her out as soon as possible.

When Hanna was told that she had more visitors, just half an hour before visiting hours ended, she'd figured she knew who was going to be sitting on the other side of the table. But she was still flooded with relief when she entered the room, flanked by a guard, to see Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Mona waiting for her.

"Hanna," Emily breathed as Hanna sank into the chair across from them.

Feeling suddenly awkward, as well as totally drained, Hanna pushed her greasy bangs out of her face. "Well, I was right. Orange really doesn't go with anything," she muttered, picking at one of her polyester sleeves.

It was an attempt at a joke, but it fell completely flat, landing on the table between them with an almost audible thud. The girls shifted. Spencer cleared her throat. "How are you holding up?"  
Although well intentioned, the question felt generic, empty. "As well as you would expect," Hanna answered, not about to admit that she'd nearly puked from the putrid smell in the showers this morning, or that she could have sworn she saw an actual rat scurrying across the floor outside of her cell.

"Look." Spencer reached across the table and squeezed Hanna's hand briefly. The guard, thankfully, had moved to stand just outside the closed door. "I overheard my parents talking earlier. My mom doesn't even need to prove your innocence. As long as she can find just one piece of evidence that contradicts the case the police are building against you, she's pretty sure she'll be able to get you out."

The words _"pretty sure"_ didn't provide Hanna with a whole ton of comfort, but at this point, she was willing to take what she could get. "What's she going to do?"

"I don't know," Spencer admitted. "But she's working on it. It's her first priority, Han."

Hanna let out a breath as Mona shook her head, looking disgusted and a little bit impressed. "We knew A was capable of a lot, but transferring your fingerprints onto that gun? We really did underestimate that bitch."

Hanna's vision darkened for a moment. Her heart began to pick up pace, thumping hard in her chest. She should have known they'd bring up the gun – the thing that had landed Hanna here in the first place – and yet she'd naively hoped that she could get away without telling them the truth.

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "I didn't even think that was possible. But they must have made it look pretty real."

"Come on, it's the Rosewood police we're talking about," Aria argued, lowering her voice and shooting a quick glance toward the guard outside the door. She drummed her fingers nervously against the metal tabletop. "Not exactly the world's finest."

"Well, the good thing is that we know A's behind this," Spencer said confidently. "So if we can figure out how they managed to transfer Hanna's fingerprints, maybe we can – "

"Guys." The word slipped out of Hanna's mouth without her permission. "There's…something I have to tell you."

Four pairs of eyes met hers. "What is it?" Emily asked. Her eyebrows knitted together.

The brief flash of confidence drained out of Hanna. She fidgeted uncomfortably in the cold metal seat, feeling like she was standing onstage, under bright lights. She thought back to all of the bad memories they'd shared over the years. Aria smashing her dad's office to bits. The girls sneaking into that frat party.

This really wasn't any worse than any of that. But in hindsight, it did make Hanna feel pretty freaking stupid.

"Those fingerprints…on the gun," she began, sucking in a breath. "A didn't put them there. They're really mine."

Her friends exchanged surprised glances. "It was your dad's gun, right?" Aria said. "What, did you go to a shooting range with him or something?"  
Hanna was so tempted to say yes. That would make sense. That would be the easiest explanation. But it wouldn't be the truth. And if they were going to get through whatever A had to throw at them, they had to stop lying, especially to each other.

She folded her hands on the table with a sigh. "No. I wasn't with my dad when my fingerprints ended up on that gun. I was with Alison."

…

 _Hanna could hear the music blaring, nearly shaking the ground beneath her feet, before Noel's house was even in sight. Her tote bag suddenly felt as heavy as if it was filled with bricks. She stopped short. "Ali, wait. I don't know about this."_

 _Alison turned back to her. Her hair was perfectly straightened, her pink lip-gloss glimmered, and her eyes shined the way they always did just before a party. As she took in Hanna's nervous expression, her mouth twisted in obvious frustration. "Don't tell me you're backing out now. I told you, this is a good idea!"_

 _Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Hanna tugged her scoop neck t-shirt further down over her waistline. "I just don't get how this is going to impress Sean."_

 _Ali groaned and grabbed Hanna's arm, dragging her along toward the house. "I told you. Spencer said Sean always checks out books on different kinds of weapons from the library. And apparently he goes hunting with his dad on the weekends. He'll think it's totally cool."_

 _Hanna hitched her bag higher on her shoulder. She was so aware of the small handgun inside that she could practically feel its cold metal pressing against her side. She wished Spencer were here to give her input. Ali was definitely smart when it came to guys, but sometimes her ideas could be a little extreme. And Hanna's blood was still pumping with adrenaline from slipping her dad's gun out of its safe in the first place._

 _But they were striding up to the front door of Noel's gigantic mansion before Hanna could give it any more thought. "Boys," Ali simpered, nodding in the direction of a group of juniors near the entrance. They immediately scrambled out of her way._

 _The front hallway was packed with people. Someone squeezed past them, and a bit of beer sloshed out of their cup and onto Hanna's shoe. Hanna clutched her bag to her chest, feeling as uneasy as she had when she'd gone to her first party with Alison, right after they'd become friends._

 _"_ _Now." Alison turned abruptly to Hanna. She nodded to the left. "Sean's right over there. You go talk to him, and I'll get us some drinks." She winked and disappeared before Hanna could protest._

 _Feeling a wave of nerves in her stomach, Hanna looked wildly around. Sean was standing near the huge TV in the media room, chatting with a few guys on the baseball team. Hanna headed over, suddenly craving a big box of Cheez-Its._

 _She almost hoped that Sean wouldn't notice her, but just as she approached, the boys he was talking to slapped him on the back and headed toward the kitchen. Hanna took a deep breath and steadied herself. This was going to work. Ali was right. Ali was_ always _right about things like this._

 _"_ _Hey, Sean," she said shakily, forcing a smile as she stopped in front of him. She sucked in her breath, painfully aware of her stomach puffing over the top of her jeans._

 _Sean offered her the same small, slightly confused smile he usually did when he saw her. "Hey, Hanna. You here with your friends?"_

 _"_ _Um, just Ali." Hanna fiddled clumsily with the zipper on her bag. "I actually…I have something to show you. If you…if you want."_

 _Sean's eyes crinkled. "What do you mean?"_

 _Hanna was more certain than ever that this was a ridiculous idea, but it wasn't like she could go back now. She reached into her bag. Her fingers closed around her dad's handgun. "I, um, I heard you're into hunting and stuff," she said over the music, pulling it out. It glinted in the light. "This is my dad's."_

 _From the way Ali had hyped up this interaction, Hanna half-expected Sean to instantly bond with her over this new shared connection. His eyes widened at the sight of the gun, and her heart lifted. But then he stumbled back. "Whoa. Hanna, why did you bring that here?"_

 _Hanna's heart started to pound. "I thought you'd want to see it. Since, you know, you're into guns," she said uncertainly._

 _Sean ran a hand through his short hair. He looked around with a grimace. "I mean, yeah, maybe out in the woods with my dad, but not at a party. Jesus."_

 _This was not going well. Hanna glanced around, wishing that Ali would reappear and fix everything. She felt heat rise to her face. "I didn't…I just…I thought that – "_

 _"_ _You should probably put that thing away," Sean interjected. The nice guy that he was, he gave her one last, strange smile, then practically bolted away from her._

 _Hanna stood stock-still, mortification flooding through her. The gun was still clutched in her hand. What had she been_ thinking? _Why had she let Ali talk her into this? Of course Sean wouldn't be impressed by her showing off a handgun in the middle of a house party. It was_ weird. _And the fact that she knew so much about his hobbies probably made her seem like a stalker. A bitter feeling snaked into her stomach. If Ali had done this, she would have seemed confident and badass. But Hanna just came across as awkward and probably a little creepy._

 _She closed her eyes to try and force back tears. All she wanted to do was find Alison and get out of here, now. But just as she was moving to open her bag again, it happened._

 _A ninth grade boy in Hanna's geometry class gave his friend a joking shove, and the other boy fell back. His elbow connected with Hanna's ribs, and she gasped, instinctively squeezing hard on the handle of the gun._

 _The pounding music covered any sound, but the kickback that Hanna felt nearly rocked her entire body. There was no denying what had happened. The gun had gone off. The_ loaded _gun._

 _Hanna's vision went momentarily dark. She'd never so much as touched her father's gun before this night, and now she'd just fired off a bullet – right in the middle of a crowded room. Her breath caught in her throat, and she turned her head just in time to see a girl wearing a white skirt and sparkly tank top groan, one of her knees buckling._

 _"_ _Monica?" the redhead beside her asked. "What's wrong?"_

 _The girl scrunched up her face. She bent over, her hand clutching her knee. "I don't know. I feel like I just got stung by a bee." As Hanna watched, frozen, she pulled her hand away. Bright red blood trickled down her fingers. "What the hell?"_

 _A hand fell on Hanna's shoulder, and she whirled around, her heart leaping into her throat in fear as she shoved the handgun instantly back into her bag. But it was only Ali. Her eyes flitted from Hanna's bag to Monica, who was easing herself onto the arm of the couch and staring in shock at the blood drizzling down her knee._

 _Hanna just shook her head, speechless, as Alison's face registered first shock, then disgusted comprehension. "Oh my god, Han."_

 _"_ _I didn't mean to!" Hanna squeaked. Her hands started to shake uncontrollably. She'd shot someone. She'd_ shot _someone. Sure, the bullet had clearly only grazed her, but that did nothing to calm her pounding heart. "I was just – "_

 _Ali glanced around, then grabbed Hanna's arm. The rest of the partygoers were still milling around, laughing raucously and drinking. No one besides Monica and her friends had noticed anything out of the ordinary. "We're getting out of here. Now."_

…

Hanna's hands were shaking as badly as they had been on that horrible night by the time she was finished talking. Worried that the guard would burst in if she put them out of sight, she held them tightly in her lap instead of sitting on them as she took in her friends' faces.

Emily's eyes were as wide as saucers. Aria was gaping. Spencer looked speechless, and Mona was staring at Hanna stoically, looking just the slightest bit impressed.

"Oh my god," Emily said after a long moment of silence. "I can't believe you never told us that."

Hanna lowered her head. She couldn't bring herself to meet any of their eyes. "Ali swore me to secrecy. She said that if anyone found out what happened that night, we'd both get busted."

"She was probably right," Mona admitted with a shrug. "It sounds like the bullet just grazed that girl, but you still hit her."

"Mona," Aria said sharply, giving her a look.

"No, it's true," Hanna said miserably. "It's awful, but it's true. That whole night has haunted me since it happened. There was no way I could have told you guys."

"That girl Monica was in my history class that year," Spencer said, leaning forward. "I don't remember her having a cast or anything. Her leg must have turned out fine, Han."

Hanna was pretty sure even Spencer wouldn't be able to remember something like that, but the thought comforted her nonetheless. "Hey," Emily spoke up. "Isn't this a good thing?" When Hanna just stared at her, she went on, "This means you left those fingerprints on the gun years ago. Won't the police be able to tell that?"

Hanna's heart lifted – maybe Emily was on to something. But it plunged back into her chest at the look that Mona and Spencer exchanged. "There _is_ technology to determine how much time has passed since prints were left on a surface," Mona said slowly.

"Yeah," Spencer added. "But it's still developing. I doubt the Rosewood police will have access to something like that."

"Great." Hanna brushed back her hair, feeling a new wave of hopelessness. "That's great."

"But you could still use this to your benefit," Spencer said. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. Hanna spotted the familiar gleam of an idea in her eyes. "Hanna, you need to tell my mom about this. As soon as possible."

"What?" Hanna came close to jumping out of her seat, but she remembered the guard watching them through the window just in time. "Spence, are you crazy?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah, I don't know if Hanna confessing to shooting someone is the best idea." Hanna flinched at her words, and she shot her a sympathetic look. "Sorry."

"I'm not telling anyone. No way. And none of you can either."

But Spencer was looking more energized by the second. "No, listen to me. This is your piece of evidence. It could be all the police need to let you go, for now at least. Just enough doubt to throw their story into question."

Mona smiled slightly. "I'm with Spencer. That gun is the only evidence against you that they have. This could change that."

Logically, Hanna knew that their argument made sense. And she could barely stand the thought of staying in jail any longer. But from an emotional standpoint, the idea of looking Spencer's mother in the eye and confessing to not only stealing her father's gun, but actually shooting someone in the leg with it – albeit accidentally – made her heart race with fear. "Even if they believe me," she protested, "won't I still get in trouble? I took the gun from my dad. I _hurt_ someone with it."

Spencer raised her eyebrows. "What sounds better – giving someone a minor leg injury, or _killing_ a police officer?"

"A few drops of blood versus a few gallons," Mona mumbled.

Hanna felt like she'd been struck dumb. She looked across the table at each of her friends. Mona and Spencer were nodding confidently. Aria shook her head, still looking disturbed by the idea. Emily stared down at the table, seeming conflicted.

A few long moments passed, the ticking of the caged clock on the wall deafening in the silence. Aria met her eyes, frowning in concern. "Hanna?"

Hanna finally swallowed the lump in her throat. She shook her head firmly. "I can't, you guys. As long as I keep my mouth shut, there's a chance I can go free. But as soon as I confess to hurting that girl, the cops will definitely have a case to build against me."

"But – " Spencer started, but the guard reentered the room, and she clamped her mouth shut.

"Visiting hours are over," he announced, pulling Hanna roughly out of her seat. "Time for you girls to go."

"Han," Mona called as Hanna was pushed toward the door. "Just think about it, okay?"

But Hanna glanced back, shaking her head again. "I'm sorry. I can't do it," she practically whispered.

Spencer sighed. "We'll come back and see you as soon as we can!" Emily promised, and the door swung shut behind them.

Hanna tried to calm her shaking hands as the guard led her back to her cell. She couldn't help but admit that Spencer and Mona had a point. Telling Mrs. Hastings about that night with Ali could potentially make the cops rethink their theory about that gun.

But to do that would also mean confessing to something else – something not as bad, sure, but a crime all the same. And the fact that Alison, who could potentially also be implicated, was possibly alive made the situation even stickier.

Hanna sank onto the hard cot in her cell and lowered her head into her hands. Her friends' words rang through her head, along with the same question. _Is it worth it?_


	11. Chapter 11

A somewhat shorter chapter, but I hope you enjoy! Thank you as always for your great reviews, and please keep letting me know what you think! This week is my last full week of classes, so it's unlikely that the next chapter will be posted next weekend, but it'll be up in two weeks for sure!

* * *

Chapter 11

Usually, the police station was just about the last place that Spencer wanted to be, especially after everything that she and her friends had gone through over the past year. But three days after Hanna's arrest, and less than twenty-four hours after her unsettling confession, Spencer felt a flurry of excitement as she, Mona, and Caleb stood just outside the front entrance.

Caleb looked less than thrilled with Mona's presence, and had quietly demanded to know why Spencer had invited her along. But Emily had to work, Aria had a college visit with her mom already scheduled, and anyway, ever since around the time of the record store excursion, hanging out with Mona had started to feel almost normal.

If, of course, one could consider sneaking into the police station "hanging out."

"So we all understand the plan?" Mona asked briskly, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing at a cop car that was just pulling away from the station. "I'll go in first and distract the officers. You two wait five minutes, then find the evidence room."

"We all know the plan," Caleb snapped impatiently. "Can we just get in there already?"

Spencer sighed. He'd rushed back to town the second she'd called him about Hanna's arrest, and had been understandably on-edge ever since. Even so, this plan was only going to work if they all remained calm and flew under the radar.

"We can handle our part," she promised. "What are you going to say to distract the officers?"

"I'll just wing it," Mona said casually, then smirked and added when Caleb looked ready to give a furious retort, "Don't get your panties in a twist, it was a joke. I'm going to ask about the high school liaison program. Make it sound like it'll be good for my continuing rehabilitation." She turned toward the station and gave them a little wave. "Remember – five minutes."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Caleb turned to Spencer in obvious irritation. "Seriously? What, are you friends now?"

A defensive "no" was on the tip of Spencer's tongue when she realized that she wasn't so sure if it would be the true answer. Honestly, she didn't even feel a twinge of annoyance when Mona showed up at one of their houses or joined them for lunch anymore. It hadn't even been a month since she'd been ousted from the A team, but Spencer was beginning to wonder, with some alarm, if Caleb's question wasn't too far off.

He was still watching her, waiting for an answer. She gave him a sharp look in return. "She knows a lot, okay? We would be stupid not to use that to our advantage."

It didn't really answer his question, but Caleb just turned away and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I saw Hanna this morning," he muttered.

"How is she?"

"She didn't say much." Caleb frowned. "Seemed pretty distracted."

Spencer's stomach flipped. Hanna obviously hadn't told Caleb about Alison and the gun, or about possibly telling Mrs. Hastings the truth. "Yeah, well, who can blame her?" she said quietly, hoping that Hanna's silence was a sign that she was at least considering the idea. But if she wasn't, at least they had plan B – and it was about to start.

Caleb craned his neck toward the police station. "Alright, let's get in there."

Spencer checked her watch. "It hasn't been five minutes yet."

"If we wait too long, the cops will definitely catch on. Let's go." He was off, striding toward the front doors, before Spencer could protest. She groaned and rushed after him.

Five minutes later, they were slipping into the thankfully unlocked evidence room in the back of the building. Mona was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the person at the front desk, so Spencer supposed she'd successfully done her part.

Even so, she felt jumpy and unsettled as she shut the door quietly behind them. "We have to make this quick. Someone could come in any minute."

Caleb was already scouring the shelves of bagged items. "Marin, Hanna," he called quietly after a moment. "Found it."

Spencer squeezed in beside him, staring down at a cardboard box containing several items in zip-locked bags. Spencer recognized Hanna's phone and laptop, but her eyes were almost immediately drawn to the small handgun. She pictured a younger Hanna holding that gun, shell-shocked while a girl wiped blood from her knee, and winced.

Caleb nodded toward the gun. "I'm guessing that's it?"

"Yeah," Spencer breathed. "That's the gun that was used to kill Wilden."

"How'd A get Hanna's fingerprints on it, anyway?" Caleb asked as he pulled a pair of black gloves out of his jacket pocket.

Goosebumps appeared on Spencer's arms, chilling her. She didn't answer, just shook her head and tried to keep her face neutral as she pulled on her own pair of gloves. Caleb shot her a look as she gingerly opened the bag. "Do you think this is actually gonna do any good? The cops have already dusted for prints, that's how they arrested Hanna in the first place."

Spencer nodded as she scooped out the gun. It felt cool against her hand, even through the fabric of the gloves. "My mom said they'll have to retest it before…" She hesitated. "Before the case goes to trial. It might not be enough to clear Hanna completely. But the possibility that they made a mistake could throw a wrench into their case."

Caleb let out a short, humorless laugh as Spencer extracted a small bottle of soap, a bottle of water, and a cloth from her bag. "I guess it's a good thing Hanna's prints are already in the system."

Spencer gave him a withering smile. "Silver lining," she muttered. Making sure to keep her hands calm, she dabbed a bit of water onto one end of the cloth, rubbed soap into it, and wiped off the gun, her movements thorough and methodical. Once she was sure that she'd covered every inch of the gun's surface, she dried it with the other end of the cloth and carefully replaced it in the evidence box.

She turned to Caleb and let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "Done. Let's get out of here."

…

It had been another long, sleepless night, but Hanna felt alert and jittery as she sat in the small, claustrophobic visiting room.

After hours of thinking and stressing, she'd made her decision. She was going to do it. She was going to tell Mrs. Hastings the truth.

She was so nervous that she couldn't believe she'd been able to keep her composure in front of Caleb. She'd wanted so badly to confess what she'd done at that party. But he'd already seemed so distressed over her predicament that she couldn't bring herself to burden him even more. Besides, the less people who knew about that night, the better.

Surprisingly, Hanna had received word that Mrs. Hastings was stopping by to talk to her soon after Caleb left that morning. She figured Spencer's mom just wanted to check in, maybe ask a few more questions, but Hanna was determined to get the story out before she lost the nerve.

All she could hope was that Mrs. Hastings would find a way to use the incident as an excuse without incriminating Hanna even more.

The door clicked open. Hanna sat up straighter, pinching the palm of her hand, but it wasn't Mrs. Hastings who entered the room. An officer Hanna only vaguely recognized popped his head in the door. "Hanna Marin?"

"Yes?" Hanna asked shakily. All of the confidence she'd been feeling seeped right out of her at the serious look on his face.

"You need to come with me. Detective Tanner wants a word with you."

…

It had been less than ten minutes since Spencer and Caleb entered the police station, but as they slipped out of the evidence room and eased the door shut behind them, she felt a thousand pounds lighter. Finally, progress. They might not have saved Hanna completely, but the thought that they could have potentially just made the case against her a little more difficult filled her with relief.

Spencer glanced at her watch as she and Caleb crept down the hallway. "Where's Mona?"

"She can find her own way out," he muttered. A cop appeared at the other end of the hallway, looking at his phone and whistling. Caleb grabbed Spencer's arm. "Come on, this way."

He pulled her around the corner, and Spencer was just looking back to make sure they hadn't been seen when a hand landed on her shoulder. She whipped around and gasped. "Mom?"

Veronica stood in front of them. She was wearing a business suit, but it looked slightly rumpled, as if she'd thrown it on at the last minute. Her phone was clutched in her other hand. "Spencer?" she asked, regarding her daughter with surprise. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes flicked briefly to Caleb.

Spencer took a step back. Of course. Of _course_ her mother would be here right now. She was probably on her way to check in with Hanna. The hope that Hanna had decided to tell the truth rose in her chest. "Uh, Mom, we – we were just – "

Veronica was so distracted that she barely seemed to register Spencer's stammering. She checked her phone again, then glanced worriedly down the hallway. "You're probably here for the same reason I am, aren't you?" she asked. "How did you find out?"

Spencer and Caleb exchanged a confused look. "Find out what?" Spencer said slowly. "Is it something about Hanna?"

At last, Veronica focused on her. Her brow was furrowed. "About her release," she said absentmindedly.

Spencer jolted, as if a bolt of electricity had just shot through her. She wondered at first if she'd misheard, but then Caleb moved forward. "Wait, Hanna's getting out?" he demanded.

"Yes, she is," Veronica sighed. Once again, her gaze flitted down the hallway.

Spencer's joy morphed quickly to concern as she took in her mother's expression. Despite her fantastic words, it was clear that something wasn't right. "Mom. What's wrong? Isn't this a good thing?"

"It would be, except…I just got a call from Detective Tanner. Hanna's being released because Mona just confessed to Wilden's murder."


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the two week wait, but my semester is finally over, which means I should hopefully be back to once a week (at least) updates for a while! Thank you to everyone who reviewed - I responded individually at the end of the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 12

"How does it feel to be back home?" Emily handed Hanna a mug of tea and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

Hanna sighed. She was back to her usual full face of makeup, but Emily could still make out dark circles under her eyes. "It would feel better if Mona hadn't taken my place."

Aria, who was perched on the little spare bed across the room, leaned forward. "Did you have any idea she was going to confess to killing Wilden?"

"No," Hanna said earnestly, giving a helpless shake of her head. "Honest. She didn't tell me anything."

"Do you guys think she's up to something?" Emily asked. "What if this is some kind of plan?" The words felt wrong on her tongue, and she was almost instantly hit with a strong sense of guilt. It was strange – a month ago, accusing Mona of plotting against them felt as natural as breathing. But now even the idea felt uncomfortable, dirty.

"No," Hanna said vehemently, and Aria shook her head as well.

"I understand. Okay. Thanks." Spencer's voice drifted into the room from the hall, and she appeared in the doorway a moment later, her phone in her hand.

Aria sat up straighter. "What did you find out?"

Spencer sank down beside her. "Mona was admitted to Radley, but that's all they'd tell me."

Emily frowned. "Radley? Why Radley?"

"Does that mean they don't believe her?" Hanna added.

"Probably not," Spencer said with a shrug. "My mom said that there were a few inconsistencies in the story Mona told the police. Between that and the fact that she already has a history with mental illness, they probably sent her to Radley for an evaluation."

"What kind of inconsistencies?" Aria said. There was a thoughtful look on her face, and Emily glanced at her, unsure what she was thinking.

Spencer picked absentmindedly on a hangnail. "Just little things. She said she shot him three times when he was only shot twice…he was hit in the stomach but she claimed she hit him in the chest…"

Aria nodded slowly, a look of comprehension passing across her face. "That's why she did it. Han, Mona knew she'd get sent to Radley instead of jail."

Spencer gasped in understanding. "Those inconsistencies were on purpose. She knew it would be enough to throw doubt into Hanna's case." She fixed her eyes on Hanna. "She did this so you'd be released."

Hanna raised a hand to her necklace. She ran her fingers lightly over the chain, staring off in thought. "I can't believe Mona would do that for me."

Emily sighed. She wanted to believe that Mona's plan really had been to help Hanna, but she couldn't ignore the last little lingering bit of doubt that was niggling at her brain. "The only way to know for sure is to ask her."

Hanna was already reaching for the purse that she'd dumped in the chair in front of the vanity. "I say we go visit her. Right now."

Before Emily could move, though, Spencer put out a hand, stopping Hanna. "We can't. I asked. She's not allowed visitors. Not while she's under psychiatric evaluation."

"Crap," Emily muttered, and was just about to ask what their next move should be when Hanna jumped to her feet.

"No, screw that. I'm getting in there."

"How are you going to do that?" Emily asked, alarm rising in her chest. Hanna may have been released from jail, but that didn't necessarily mean she was totally in the clear. Getting caught sneaking into a mental institution probably wouldn't be the best thing for her record.

Hanna waved her hand dismissively. "Please, I know that place like the back of my hand. In fact," she added, glancing at the time on her phone, "the nurses change shifts in twenty minutes." She looked at Aria. "Come with me?"

Aria startled. "Why me?"

Hanna shrugged. "Remember what you said last time? 'Friends don't let friends…'"

Before Emily could ask what she was talking about, Aria groaned, rolled her eyes, and heaved herself off of the sofa bed. "Fine." She raised her eyebrows and looked at Spencer and Emily in turn. "If we're not back in an hour, call for a search party."

As soon as they were out the door, Emily gave Spencer a quizzical look. "You don't think this is a good idea, do you?"

"Of course not," Spencer scoffed. "But it's Hanna. You know as well as I do that she's not going to listen to anything we have to say." She stood and pulled her car keys out of her purse. "Well, now that I've got some time to kill, I might as well go try and grill my mom with some more questions."

Half an hour later, Emily tapped her pencil against her history textbook and tried to focus her eyes on the words. For the first time in weeks, homework could be her first priority. But her mind still swirled with images of Mona sitting in Radley, of Hanna getting caught sneaking in and hauled back to jail.

Most of all, though, she couldn't stop thinking about Alison. She'd been able to convince herself for the past few weeks that the mounting evidence that she was alive was all coincidental, that it was all just a product of their paranoid imaginations. Despite her best efforts, though, she wasn't so sure that even she was buying it anymore.

A sudden sound startled Emily out of her thoughts. She dropped her pencil onto her desk and twisted around, squinting toward her bedroom door. Was she truly just overly fearful, or was someone – _A –_ in the house?

"Hello?" Emily called, shakily getting to her feet. But when she paused by the door and held her breath, listening hard, she realized that the sound she kept hearing wasn't footsteps, or a door opening and closing. It was faint, upbeat music.

Emily stepped into the hallway. "Mom?" she asked, even though she knew that her mother was at work. She tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling. The music sounded like it was coming from right above her head.

 _The attic._ Emily's stomach twisted. It was against her better judgment, but her curiosity propelled her forward. She pulled down the stairs that led up to the small, dusty attic, and started to climb.

It was a small space that could barely even be considered a room, just big enough for some spare furniture, boxes of Christmas decorations, and her dad's gun safe. Emily's gaze drifted to the safe first, but shifted quickly to what became glaringly clear was the source of the music – Emily's mom's old record player, sitting on a crate under the small window. Emily was pretty sure that thing hadn't seen the light of day since she was about five years old, but there it was, the needle scratching against a thin black vinyl record as it circled the turntable.

Emily crept toward it. Once she was close enough to hear the lyrics blaring out of it, her pounding heart froze in her chest.

 _"_ _I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self-defense. I shot the sheriff, and they say it is a capital offense."_

With a shaking hand, she reached out and lifted the needle. The attic fell eerily silent. The mysteriously playing record, the song about shooting a sheriff…there was no doubt in Emily's mind who was behind this. A had been in her house. And they were clearly trying to send a message that the girls were far from being in the clear.

Emily stepped back from the record player, a chill shooting up her spine. She felt something bump against her leg, and looked down with a gasp to see that the vinyl record's sleeve had fallen from its perch against the crate and was leaning against her.

She stooped down and picked it up gingerly. _461 Ocean Boulevard_ by Eric Clapton. Emily wracked her brain, trying to remember if this was one of her parents' old records, but she didn't exactly have the whole collection memorized.

Then her eyes focused on the title, written out in small uppercase letters below the singer's name. Several of the numbers and letters were underlined in thick, red marker. And Emily was willing to bet that it hadn't come that way.

…

Spencer was, predictably, even more intrigued by the record than Emily had been. Less than twenty minutes after Emily had noticed the mysterious red underlining, she sat on Spencer's bed, watching her friend hold the record sleeve close to her face and examine it with narrowed eyes.

"What do you think it means?" Emily asked after a few long moments, because she wasn't dumb enough to believe that this had no significance at all.

Spencer turned the cover over in her hands and studied it, running her finger gently over the track list. "I don't know. A obviously chose that song as a reminder of what happened to Wilden. And they must be trying to send us a message with the title." She flipped the album back over. "The numbers six and one are underlined, and so are the letters _C, A, B, L, and E._ Sixty-one cable. Or cable sixty-one."

Emily frowned deeply. Her head was beginning to throb. "I don't get it."

"Yeah, neither do I," Spencer muttered. "But it has to mean something."

The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them staring intently down at the photograph of the palm tree and white, square building on the album cover. Emily was so deep in thought that when the door to Spencer's room flew open, she nearly tumbled right off of the edge of the bed.

Spencer leapt to her feet, likely expecting her mother, but Hanna and Aria stormed in instead. Their faces were pale. "We have a problem," Hanna announced.

Emily looked between them, feeling her pulse quicken. "Don't tell us someone caught you sneaking in."

"No," Aria said quickly. "But we did talk to one of the nurses, and there wouldn't have even been anywhere to sneak in _to._ "

Emily exchanged a look with Spencer, who asked slowly, "What does that mean?"

"Mona's gone," Hanna blurted, as if she couldn't hold it back any longer. The rest of her words came out in a rush. "She was released an hour ago. We tried calling her, going to her house…we can't find her anywhere."

Emily was surprised by the cold fear that seared her gut at Hanna's words. It reminded her of the way she'd felt when she'd learned that Aria had gone missing on the Halloween train, or when she'd stormed into the bell tower in search of Spencer last spring.

She was worried. Genuinely, legitimately worried…about _Mona._

"Do you think something happened?" she asked.

Aria twisted her hands together, looking jumpy. "I mean, don't you think she would have at least texted one of us after she was released?"

Hanna paced back and forth in front of Spencer's bed. She looked like she was about to be sick. "I have a bad feeling about this. Where the hell is she?"

Emily glanced at Spencer, who was staring down at the Eric Clapton record with a strange expression, almost a smile, on her face. "Spence? What is it?"

"61 Cable," Spencer practically whispered. She turned the sleeve around and explained for Aria and Hanna's benefit, "A left this in Emily's house. That's what the underlined letters and numbers mean. It's an address."

"An address to what?" Hanna asked.

"To where Mona is, hopefully." Spencer grabbed her laptop from the desk and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Aria joined her with wide eyes. "You think A took her?"

"I don't know," Spencer muttered. She typed intently, her gaze focused on the screen. "But if they did, I think they told Emily where we need to go."

Frowning, Emily sat down on the bed and leaned over to take a look at Spencer's laptop screen. Spencer typed in the A message – _61 Cable –_ and a map filled the screen. She smiled. "There's a 61 Cable Road right outside of Philly. It's only a forty-five minute drive from here."

Hanna groaned. "God, what if A has Mona tied up in some abandoned warehouse or something?"

Emily's stomach lurched at the thought. "Why would they do that?"

"Why does A do anything?" Aria muttered.

Spencer shoved the laptop aside and jumped up. "We can ask all of these questions on the way. Come on, let's get to that address."

* * *

mugiwara-no-lucy: That was definitely part of it, but as you can see in this chapter (and as you will see in the future ones), that incident was sort of the catalyst for everything that's to come! Thanks for reviewing!

SweetShann1979: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying!

0001234: Thank you for all of your consistent reviews!

Boris Yeltsin: The cops really aren't going to play much of a role in this story. Thanks for your review!

As always, please drop me a review to let me know what you think! I'm not giving away what happens in the next chapter, but...it's big.


	13. Chapter 13

An update on a Thursday?! I got this chapter done and couldn't wait to share it. I'm also hoping that with so much more free time now, I'll be able to update much more often! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and please keep letting me know what you think! This is a particularly big chapter.

* * *

Chapter 13

There was no good reason for it, but as Aria crossed the street and rounded the corner onto Cable Road, she felt the need to hold her breath. It just felt right as she traipsed down the slightly run-down street alongside her friends, their footsteps the only sound breaking through the unsettling silence. Even the shabby houses were dark. The apartment building on the corner looked practically abandoned.

"What are we gonna do once we find it?" Aria asked as they passed 49 Cable Road. Her voice sounded unnaturally loud on the quiet street, and she lowered it. "I mean, say A does have Mona tied up in there. Then what? Shouldn't we have a plan?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because our plans always work out so well."

"There's no time to make a plan, anyway," Spencer said, hurriedly checking the house numbers as they walked briskly along. "Mona's life could be in danger. The longer we take, the more time A has to do something even worse." Her voice was wavering with fear.

Aria's stomach lurched. She shoved her shaking hands into her pockets as Emily pointed a few houses down, directly at a low to the ground, office-looking building that seemed oddly out of place on this residential street. "Look, sixty-one. There it is."

Aria eyed the building as the four of them raced toward it. It was just as dark as most of the street, without even a street lamp illuminating its exterior. As they approached, she could make out a small, dirty sign attached to a stake in the ground near the door, which read, "Clairson Real Estate."

Emily frowned at the sign. "A real estate company?"

"Doesn't look like it's open anymore," Spencer muttered. She circled around to the front of the building, looking it up and down. Then she gave the others a short nod and started up the front walkway, which was nearly overtaken with weeds.

A surge of panic ran through Aria without warning. She grabbed Spencer's arm. "Wait. How can we be sure we're not walking into a trap?"

"We can't," Hanna said. Before Aria could stop her, she pushed past them and strode up to the door. Aria exchanged a look with Spencer and scrambled after her. It was too late to stop her now. And besides, Spencer was right. As long as there was a chance Mona really was in there, they had to move fast.

Hanna grabbed the knob, and the door swung open with a rusty creak. "Okay," she muttered. "I'm officially creeped out."

The girls crowded into the doorway. Aria's heart pounded so hard in her chest that she was sure her friends could hear it. It took her eyes a moment to adjust in the darkness, and she slowly took in the small reception area, which contained a few straight-backed chairs, a table covered with dusty magazines, and a desk. A door beside the receptionist desk, which presumably used to lead to the real estate agents' offices, was shut tight.

There was absolutely no sign of life, but Aria still attempted to move as quietly as possible as she crept forward. She was just about to put a finger to her lips when Hanna yelled out, her voice strange in the small space, "Mona?"

"Shh," Aria insisted, but when they paused and listened, they were met with silence.

Emily folded her arms and hunched her shoulders up closer to her ears. "Why would A bring Mona here?"

Hanna's eyes locked onto the door across the room. "Let's check in there," she declared, and started toward it.

Spencer touched her arm, halting her. "Hold on. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Aria nodded in agreement. She rubbed at the goose bumps that had just appeared on her arms. Something about this suddenly felt very, very wrong. "Maybe we should get out of here."

"No!" Hanna whipped around. "What about Mona?"

"Han, it doesn't look like anybody's here," Emily said quietly. "And we don't even know if this is the right place. We could have misinterpreted the message on the record."

Two against one. Obviously disgruntled, Hanna crossed her arms and turned to Spencer. "What do you think?"

Spencer barely seemed to be paying attention. She narrowed her eyes at a dark shape on a chair that had been pushed into the corner. "What is that?"

She crossed the room toward it, and Aria followed, feeling the desire for them all to stick together, even in this small room. As Spencer picked up the object, Aria came close enough to see what it was – another record, this one by Patsy Cline.

"Well," Aria breathed, feeling suddenly light-headed, "that would be a crazy coincidence."

"There are no coincidences," Spencer whispered.

Before the last word was completely out of her mouth, the unmistakable sound of a door clicking open cut through the air. Aria froze, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of her. Her eyes flitted to the front door, but it was closed and still.

That left only one other option. Aria locked eyes with Hanna, then Emily. All four of their backs were to the door beside the desk. It clicked closed, and Spencer dropped the record back onto the chair. In unison, they turned slowly. Aria resisted the urge to shut her eyes in anticipation, hoping for Mona but expecting something much worse.

But she forced her eyes to remain open, and as she took in the too-familiar hair, the bright eyes, and the hint of a nervous smile on the person by the door, it was like her brain left her head completely, leaving her not only speechless, but unable to produce any sort of rational thought, either.

"You're right, Spencer," Alison DiLaurentis said, in that voice that Aria remembered like she'd just heard it yesterday. "There _are_ no coincidences."

The air practically evaporated from the room. Aria wanted to look at her friends, see their reactions, but her eyes were glued to Alison's face. She couldn't even bring herself to take in a breath as her old, assumed dead best friend crossed the room toward them. "I'm so happy to see you guys."

Even though Aria still felt rooted to the floor, Ali's words seemed to break something inside of Emily. She let out a sound between a gasp and a sob, then moved forward and flung her arms around Alison. "Oh my god. It's true. You're alive."

"I am," Alison confirmed, her voice choked with emotion as she returned Emily's hug.

"I knew it," Hanna said, almost smugly, moving to hug Ali as well. "I knew all those clues couldn't have been nothing."

Aria shook her head mutely, still too stunned to speak, but was all too glad to return Alison's hug when the blonde moved toward her. A disbelieving laugh escaped from her throat. It was Alison. It was _really_ her. She'd been alive the whole time.

As Alison stepped back, smiling and wiping away a tear, Aria took in her appearance, comparing her, live in the flesh, to the age progression picture that had been plastered on every "missing" poster for the past year. Ali's skin was clear, but pale. She looked thinner than Aria remembered, and her hair was longer, curled, but with obvious split ends.

Spencer narrowed her eyes. She was smiling, but to Aria it looked somewhat forced. "How did you find us here?"

"I didn't," Ali replied, giving Spencer an equally cautious look. Aria wondered what that was all about – she knew they'd fought in Spencer's living room the night Ali went missing, but that had been so long ago. "You found me."

"What do you mean?" Aria asked, finally finding her voice. Something wasn't adding up here.

Alison smiled, and Aria's heart pounded at the old familiarity of it. "I'm glad you guys figured out my message. I was so worried you wouldn't show."

"Wait." Hanna pushed her hair away from her face. " _Your_ message?"

"You left that record in my house?" Emily added. Her hand dropped from where it had been resting against Ali's arm.

Alison nodded. "I've been waiting for the perfect time to talk to you guys for weeks now. But it would have been too dangerous for me to just walk out of the shadows. I needed you to come to me, and I figured posing as A would be the best way to do that."

Aria folded her arms, suddenly conflicted. She'd dreamed about Alison really being alive for two years, and now that fantasy had come true. She should have been overjoyed. And she was. But there was something else stirring inside of her, too.

Ali knew about A. She'd been watching them, she must have been, this whole time. And she didn't help them. She knew what it was like, what they were going through at A's hands, and she abandoned them to deal with it themselves.

And as happy as Aria was to be standing face-to-face with her again, she wasn't sure how she felt about that yet.

"I have so much to tell you." Alison reached for Emily's hand again, and Emily looked all too willing to give it. "It's time you hear the whole story. But we can't do it here."

Aria glanced around, as if A was suddenly going to jump out from behind the desk. "Why not?"

"I try not to stay in one place for too long," Ali explained. "It's safer that way. I've been staying here for the past few nights, hiding out in one of the old offices." She reached into the pocket of her slightly ratty jacket and pulled out a slip of paper, which she handed to Emily. "Meet me at this address. I have my own way there."

Emily took the paper, but frowned. "Why can't we all go together?"

"It's too risky," Alison said in a low voice. "I've been laying low for years. I can't travel in a pack. You guys go together, I'll meet you at that address in two hours."

Ten minutes later, Aria slid into the front passenger seat of Spencer's car. Her hands were shaking as she plugged the address on the slip of paper into her phone. "New York City?" she gasped. "Why is Ali taking us there?"

Spencer shrugged. Her face was pale and she gripped the steering wheel hard. "Same old dramatic Ali. I guess some things never change."

"She's been alive this whole time," Emily whispered from the backseat. "And she never told us."

"What the hell happened that night?" Hanna demanded. "We went to her funeral and everything!"

Aria sighed. She couldn't even begin to wrap her head around this. Her temples throbbed with exhaustion, but she knew that the night had only just begun. "I guess we'll find out."

Hanna's phone began to ring. She looked at the screen and gasped. "Oh my god. It's Mona."

Aria's heart dropped into her stomach. "What?" Her face flushed with guilt. In all of the shock and exhilaration of seeing Ali again, she'd completely forgotten about the reason they'd come here in the first place.

Hanna answered the phone and turned it to speaker, looking as remorseful as Aria felt. "Mona?"

"Where is everyone?" Mona's voice crackled through the phone, sounding irritated and, thankfully, just fine. "I've been calling all of you for half an hour."

Aria frowned and glanced down at her phone. Sure enough, there were notifications of four missed calls and several texts. The old real estate office must not have had reception. But all Aria cared about, at that moment, was that Mona was obviously still alive.

Hanna looked equally relieved, and slightly startled. "We – "

"This has been the craziest day," Mona went on before she could explain. "I'm sure you've heard I was temporarily detained in Radley?"

"Yeah," Hanna breathed. "God, Mona, I can't believe you did that for me. I owe you. Big time."

"No need to thank me," Mona replied dismissively. "Spending a day in a padded room was well worth the price of not having to see you in that hideous orange jump suit again."

Aria twisted around in her seat. "Where have you been?" she called, figuring they should settle this situation before they moved on to the Alison one. "We thought – "

"I got a text from A the second they gave me my phone back," Mona interrupted once again. Aria rolled her eyes good-naturedly, used to this by now. "They sent me on a wild goose chase to some abandoned warehouse out near Cortland. Made it seem like one of you was in danger, and no one was picking up their phones. I finally figured out that it had just been one of A's lame tricks."

Aria sank back into her seat, relieved that she was safe, but another sudden thought struck her. If it had been Alison, not A, who had led the girls to Philly, did that mean it was also Ali who sent Mona that message? And why?

"We're just glad you're okay," Emily said, leaning closer to the phone. "A made it seem like you were in some kind of trouble." She obviously hadn't had the same bad thought that Aria had.

Mona sighed. The connection was getting worse, and Aria had to strain to hear. "Why am I not surprised? Where are you now?"

Aria exchanged a glance with Spencer. Over the phone was just about to worst way to break this news, explain this insane night, but they had no choice. Hanna bit her lip. "We've kind of had a long night, too. Mona, this is going to sound crazy, but Alison is – "

But at that precise moment, Spencer navigated the car through a tunnel, and the connection was cut with a sharp _click._ Hanna stared in obvious disbelief at the phone, which now displayed an almost mocking "call ended" screen. "Are you kidding me?"

"Should we try and call her back?" Aria asked, reaching for her own phone.

Spencer shook her head. "No. Trying to explain this over the phone doesn't seem like a good idea. And anyway, we should wait until Ali tells us the full story."

"You're right," Hanna agreed, reluctantly dropping her phone onto the seat between her and Emily. "Learning that Ali's alive is going to be way harder for Mona than for us. We should tell her in person."

Aria shivered involuntarily. "God, I didn't even think of that." As conflicted and shaken as she felt over Ali's reappearance, she couldn't even imagine how someone who was bullied so mercilessly by her would feel. "How do you think she's gonna react?"

"Let's worry about that later," Spencer said sharply as she guided the car onto the freeway. "We need to focus on one situation at time, and I'm still trying to process this myself."

Aria nodded, feeling a sudden chill. She wrapped her arms around herself, wanting to ask Spencer to crank up the car's heat. In less than two hours, they would be in the middle of New York City, sitting who-knows-where.

But none of that was important. All that mattered was hearing Alison's story and finding out what happened to her on that fateful night, once and for all.


	14. Chapter 14

WHOA, what's this?! An update?! I'm so sorry that it's been such an insanely long time since I've posted a new chapter. Time has gotten away from me, and it wasn't until I started getting into "The Perfectionists" that I found the motivation to continue this. With a new plan for the next few chapters and summer quickly approaching, I don't plan on disappearing for nearly as long again! I hope that people are still interested in this story after so long - please drop me a review to let me know what you think!

*And just as a note, as it's not directly mentioned in the narrative, the majority of Alison's story is the same as explained in 4x24, but the Ezra storyline has been removed. There is also one big change, which is addressed in the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 14

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. And now I'm ready to tell you guys everything."

The words cut like a knife through Hanna's gut. Part of her wanted to pinch herself on the arm, see if she jolted awake in bed, the past several hours just a vivid, strange dream. Because in a way, that would have seemed more realistic than this – sitting in a small apartment above a coffee shop in New York City, just feet away from Alison.

Hanna's stomach was churning, and she was pretty sure it wasn't from the two hour long drive. As Alison took a deep breath, she focused on Emily, who was sitting next to Ali, their knees nearly, but not quite, touching. Emily's eyes were wide and concerned, but shining with barely concealed joy.

Hanna tried to channel the same glee, but couldn't quite get herself there. She had dreamed for years that Alison was still alive. The problem was, just as many of those dreams had been negative as positive. For every memory she had of Alison curling Hanna's hair or shooting her a thousand watt smile, there was an equally powerful one of her mouth curving into a sneer as she muttered a nasty comment about Hanna's bulging stomach.

Hanna sat up straighter, self-consciously pushing her hair in front of her shoulders and trying to focus on Alison's words as she began her story.

But it didn't take long for her to get sucked right in, leaving her own insecurities and doubts behind. The next hour and a half passed in a blur. Hanna and the others gasped as Alison described A sneaking into her room to write a taunting message on her mirror. They frowned indignantly when she admitted to slipping sleeping pills into their drinks during the sleepover. They listened intently as she listed the million people she'd crossed off her A list that night – Toby, Ian, Byron, Garrett – and they sobbed along with her, both shocked and disgusted, when she recounted her mother burying her alive.

"I can't believe your mom would do that to you," Hanna breathed, tears streaming down her face as she looked into Ali's stricken one. Emily was sitting beside Ali on the couch, looking horrified as she rubbed her back.

Alison took a deep, shaky breath. She'd remained completely composed as she'd described finding those videos on Ian's computer. She'd barely batted an eyelash as she'd recounted A – _Mona,_ Hanna reminded herself with a lurch of her stomach – threatening to kill her. But she'd crumbled the moment Hanna had asked why Jessica didn't call the police after she'd seen someone bash Ali's head with a rock. Hanna didn't blame her. Ali's mom had always given her the creeps, but she'd had no idea that the woman was capable of something so unimaginably horrible.

"So then what?" Spencer asked, after giving Alison a few moments to compose herself. "You were able to dig yourself out?"

"I was so disoriented that I could barely think," Alison said shakily, wiping away one last tear and wrapping her arms around herself. "But I managed to stick my hand out through the dirt. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself out, but I didn't have to."

Aria uncurled herself from the overstuffed armchair she was sitting in and leaned forward. "Did someone else pull you out?"

Hanna's heart began to pound in anticipation, for about the tenth time that night, as Alison nodded. "Who was it?"

Ali let out a breath, then looked directly at Hanna. "It was Mona."

…

 _"_ _I'm scared for you, Alison." Mona pressed a damp cloth to Ali's forehead, her hand steady as she wiped away some of the blood that was crusted on the wound the rock had left behind. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?"_

 _"_ _You can't," Ali blurted. Her hands shook violently in her lap. She felt tremulous and ill, as if she'd just been electrocuted. Her scattered and pounding head somehow stuck on that thought, and she reached up to touch her hair, just to make sure that it wasn't standing on end. "N-no one can know where I am."_

 _Mona lowered the cloth from Ali's temple and sat beside her on the edge of the bed. "Why would someone want to kill you?" she asked, her eyes full of concern behind her glasses._

 _"_ _I don't know," Alison whispered miserably. It was the question that she'd been asking herself since Mona grasped her hand and pulled her out of the dirt, as they made the ten-minute drive to the Lost Woods Resort, and as she waited in the shadows along the edge of the building while Mona checked in under the name Vivian Darkbloom. "But I can't stay here."_

 _"_ _You're right," Mona said, almost too-quickly. "If this A person was willing to bash your head in with a rock once, I'm sure they're willing to do it again."_

 _Ali's stomach swirled. A had been stalking her, sending her nasty messages, for almost a year. It was getting to the point where it was more of a nuisance than anything else. But tonight A had proven just how much they were capable of._

 _Thankfully, Ali had planned for this._

 _Even in her disoriented, probably concussed state, images of the bundles of money stuffed inside the painting in her room and under a loose floorboard swam clearly into Ali's mind. Her deepest secrets were already carefully stowed away. Her meticulously kept diary would tell her friends everything they needed to know._

 _The wind whipped outside the motel room, and the sudden sound sent another wave of panic through Alison. "I have to get out of here," she muttered, struggling to her feet. "I have to go_ now. _"_

 _"_ _Ali!" Mona grabbed her arm and gently tugged her back down. "You can't go anywhere, not in the state you're in. You need to rest."_

 _Alison wanted to protest, but pain seared through her head, and she squeezed her eyes closed, knowing that Mona was right. "Tomorrow," she breathed. "Tomorrow I'm getting out of here."_

 _Mona blinked in surprise. "Where are you going to go?"_

 _"_ _Anywhere. As far as I can get." Her entire body suddenly aching with fatigue, Ali lowered herself onto the bed. "I've been ready to run for a long time, Mona."_

 _Something shifted in Mona's eyes, but Ali was too exhausted to make much of it. "Because of A?"_

 _On a normal day, Ali would have rolled her eyes and snapped back with an "uh, duh." But it was like that hit to the head had temporarily knocked the bitchiness right out of her. And she couldn't just forget about the fact that Mona had, quite literally, just saved her life._

 _"_ _I have everything I need to disappear," she murmured, her vision beginning to darken. "I just need to get it from my room."_

 _Mona sighed, pulling the ratty comforter over her. "I'll get everything for you tonight. You just get some rest."_

 _Ali could feel herself fading fast, but she couldn't sleep until she settled the one last doubt nagging at her. "Do you really think I should do this?"_

 _"_ _Fake your own death?" Mona asked, pushing up her glasses. She gave Ali a sad, hesitant smile. "Ali, I don't think you have any other choice."_

 _Something about the seriousness, the finality of her tone, resolved the issue in Ali's mind. She looked up at Mona's earnest expression, attempted to return the smile, and finally let everything go dark._

…

Hanna had eaten four cookies that she'd snagged from the coffee shop downstairs over the course of the last hour. Now, as she listened to the details of Mona pulling Alison out of the ground, rescuing her only to help her fake her own death and disappear from Rosewood, she wished she'd left them where they were. Her stomach was churning even worse than before.

She looked around at her friends. Aria and Emily looked just as disturbed as Hanna felt, but Spencer was staring at Alison as though she'd just found the missing piece of a puzzle.

"When I woke up the next morning, Mona had come through," Ali concluded. "She must have snuck into my room and found some of my hiding places, because she had almost everything I'd hidden, except for some of the money. I was out of Rosewood before the sun had fully come up."

Hanna sat on her hands to keep them from shaking. "Mona wanted you gone so badly that she helped you fake your own death?" she breathed.

"It was my idea," Ali reminded her. Then her expression darkened. "But she was more than happy to go along with it. I was basically delusional by that point. She could have stopped me at any time."

Emily frowned down at her lap, obviously conflicted. "I can't believe you were actually planning on faking your death."

"So that's why you wanted all of that money from my dad?" Aria added.

Alison sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to go that far. But it had been almost a year, and A hadn't let up. It was my backup plan, in case I needed it as a last resort. And that night, I did."

"So why come back now?" Hanna blurted suddenly, unable to stop herself. "You've been gone for so long. What changed?"

"I've wanted to reach out to you guys for months," Ali admitted, her eyes filled with sadness. "I was sick of sitting back and watching A's games get more and more dangerous. The night of the lodge fire was the last straw."

"So you really were there?" Spencer asked.

"I pulled you out of there, Hanna," Alison said, meeting Hanna's eyes. Hanna felt as though a hand had just wrapped around her gut and squeezed. "The rest of you were already safe when I got there. That night, I knew that I needed to stop running. I needed to tell you guys I was alive."

Emily's brow furrowed. "So why didn't you? That fire happened weeks ago."

Once again, it was as if a dark cloud passed across Ali's face. "I was going to give it a week or two before I tried to contact you, just to tie up some loose ends and figure out where we could meet. But by the time I was ready to come forward, it wasn't just the four of you anymore. Mona had wormed her way into the group. And there was no way I was going to let her come along. I had to think of another way."

"Wait," Aria interrupted, sitting up straighter. "You're the one who sent Mona on that wild goose chase up to Cortland?"

"I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep her from tagging along otherwise," Alison insisted. "And I needed it to just be the five of us."

Hanna exchanged an uncomfortable look with Spencer. Aria shifted in her seat. As happy as Hanna was to see Ali, alive and okay, after all this time, doing this without Mona felt wrong. And knowing that Alison had orchestrated it that way felt even worse.

At the same time, she couldn't ignore that it wasn't as if Ali didn't have a good reason. And knowing that Mona had threatened Alison that night, had actively helped her leave Rosewood for good, had known that Ali was freaking _alive,_ and had kept all of it from them…it left a sour taste in her mouth. She was supposed to be their friend now, officially, but she'd been keeping just as many secrets as Alison herself.

An awkward silence settled among the girls. Spencer, Emily, and Aria looked equally conflicted. Hanna pushed her hair out of her face. She was just about to wonder if those cookies were about to make a reappearance when a soft _thump_ cut through the quiet.

Emily's head snapped up. "Did you guys hear that?"

Spencer sat frozen, her head tilted toward the stairs. "It sounded like it came from downstairs."

The girls exchanged looks, then slowly rose to their feet and crept together toward the stairs leading to the coffee shop. Hanna held her breath, choosing her footsteps carefully.

But the small, red-carpeted room was empty and still. The cookies and pastries that Hanna hadn't snacked on sat undisturbed on their platters on the counter. The door was shut tight, just as they'd left it.

Alison let out a breath. "It must have just been the heat coming on."

Hanna felt some of the tension seeping out of her, but Aria was still peering suspiciously at the front window of the shop, her eyes narrowed. "Is that a street lamp?"

Hanna followed her gaze. A small, bright light shone directly in her eyes, and she grimaced. "Street lamps aren't that low to the ground."

Spencer took a few cautious steps forward. The window took up most of the wall beside the door, and was partially blocked by the coffee shop's bright, neon sign. She bent her knees slightly and looked closer. "It looks like a…flashlight?"

"Oh my god, someone's out there!" Emily cried, just as a loud crash sent the glass window crumbling to the floor. Hanna leapt back with a scream of surprise, trying to avoid the glass shards. She grabbed Aria's arm in terror as a familiar figure in a black hoodie stepped through the now-gaping window and into the shop, a gun clutched in their hand.


End file.
